Only remaining textile factory in historic Palestine is run by a woman
Nisaa FM: - A family concern that began in humble circumstances half a century ago has evolved into a thriving business that is trying to ease gender and political differences in Israel and Palestine
Today the family business – Arja Textile Company – is managed by Tamara Alarja, 29. It is the only remaining textile factory in historic Palestine. Not only does the business have a history of female leadership, it is defying the Israeli occupation and bridging the Israeli-Palestinian divide by servicing both markets.
It was all started in the mid-1960’s
The business started from Tamara’s grandmother’s house in the Palestinian Christian town of Beit Jala in the mid-1960s. Leila Alarja (with Tamara on photo below right), now 79, and her husband, Geries, 85, had little money in the 1960s – Geries worked as a waiter in a local hotel and Leila started sewing at home. They had nine children.
“It grew slowly over time. When her children were teenagers she had gotten good at sewing and had expanded to two sewing machines,” says Tamara.
Her grandmother started getting orders for school uniforms. Eventually demand grew, and the family added more sewing machines. Geries quit his job and created a fabric knitting and dyeing section in their home.
By the 1980s, Arja Textile Company was fully operational and in the 1990s two tall factory blocks were built around the couple’s house, employing more than 120 local Palestinians. Keeping Arja Textile Company open has been a struggle in the face of two intifadas, which have weakened Palestinian businesses. The explosion of Chinese imports and steep overheads for water, electricity and fuel have only made things harder.
Today, the factory produces half of its own fabric (the rest is imported) and employs 70 people, of whom 50 are women, a figure that defies a trend in the Palestinian territories, where only 19% of Palestinian women participated in the labour force, compared with about 71% of men.
Sees Israel and Palestine as one market
Keeping the factory doors open is a challenge for Tamara, who left towards the end of the second intifada to study. The costs of running the factory and supplying it with enough water to carry out the dyeing process are high. But the business is still selling up to 5,000 items a week and making £2m in sales a year.
“It’s a struggle every day to keep this factory going because we have to deal with so many expenses and difficulties with Israeli checkpoints, timing and accurate papers for the drivers. But the more difficult it becomes the more determined I become that I want to keep this going.”
The Palestinian economy is heavily reliant on Israel, which buys 90% of Palestinian exports, including raw material and produce. The two biggest customers are a distributor in Israel that serves secular markets and another in the West Bank city of Hebron catering to Muslim women.
The business framework has been criticised as Palestinians come under pressure to boycott Israel. “I understand boycotting is a peaceful way to demonstrate what you’re feeling against Israeli policy, but at the same time life has to keep going and you have to choose your battles,” she says.
She sees Israel and Palestine as one market: “I still believe it’s the same market – one country. No matter how you try to divide it, it’s the same environment. I know politics divide us and they want us to have two states, but if you look at things from the ground, I think it’s one country: if Israel’s economy is not doing well, our economy is not doing well,” she says.
Source: www.theguardian.com