VOA慢速英语--巴勒斯坦传统服饰成为政治抗议的手段

Traditional Palestinian Dress Becomes Means of Political Protest

A traditional dress worn by Palestinian women was not the kind of clothing one would expect to become a sign of political expression.

The brightly colored, embroidered¹ woman’s dress is known as a “thobe,” notes the Associated Press.

Now the thobe is gaining popularity² as a softer means of identifying with the fight for the establishment of a Palestinian state. It is even competing with the keffiyeh – the head covering worn by Palestinian men protesting Israel’s occupation of land they call their home.

The thobe is covered with complex, colorful embroidery³, all put together by hand. It requires months of hard work to make. Some thobes have been sold to buyers for thousands of dollars.

The use of traditional cloth is a celebration of simpler times, when poor Palestinian women would make thobes while resting from a hard day’s work in the fields.

Rashida Tlaib is the first female Palestinian American member of the United States Congress. Last month she wore her mother’s thobe at her official swearing-in ceremony.

The move has led women around the world, especially in Palestinian territories, to publish pictures of themselves in traditional dress on the Twitter social networking service.

Rachel Dedman organized a recent exhibit at the Palestinian Museum in the town of Birzeit in the West Bank. The show centered on the changes to Palestinian embroidery throughout history. Dedman told the Associated Press the thobe is such a powerful sign of political expression because it is more directly linked to culture and history, not politics.

“The historic⁴ thobe conjures⁵ an ideal of pure and untouched Palestine, before the occupation,” she said.

The Palestinian thobe’s history dates back to the early 19th century, when embroidered goods were made mainly in villages.

Beautifully designed dresses marked major events in women’s lives: the beginning of puberty, marriage, motherhood.

Maha Saca is the director of the Palestinian Heritage⁶ Center in Bethlehem. She says the designs were different from one village to the next. In Bethlehem, for example, wealthier women sought special three-dimensional embroidery. Bedouin women, who would spend their lives in travelling communities, made their thobes with large pockets for carrying things. Women from Jaffa, a city famous for its fruit trees, wore orange tree designs.

Thobe designs also expressed women’s different social positions: red was the color for women about to be married, while blue was for women whose husbands had died. Blue with multi-colored embroidery was for women who were thinking about getting re-married after their husband’s death.

Arab women across the Middle East have worn hand-made dresses for hundreds of years. But the thobe has taken on a Palestinian quality, especially since the establishment of Israel in 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians either fled or were expelled⁷ from their homes during the war that led to Israel’s creation⁸. Many took only their dresses with them, Saca added.

The war, which Palestinians call their “nakba,” or catastrophe⁹, changed the thobe. Suddenly, making the dresses was seen as a way of protecting Palestinian culture, said Dedman.

Over years of fighting, Palestinian nationalism has taken on many forms. In the early days of Israel’s establishment, nationalism was linked with calls for Israel’s destruction and deadly attacks. Armed struggle later gave way to calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Israeli forces captured those areas in 1967.

Peace talks have been halted by periods of violence and, for the past 10 years, a suspension¹⁰ of negotiations¹¹.

Today, the internationally recognized autonomy¹² government of the Palestinian Authority controls parts of the West Bank. It continues to seek a two-state solution with Israel. But the militant¹³ group Hamas, which seized Gaza in 2007, is still calling for Israel’s destruction. Many Palestinians, especially the younger generation, now talk of a single joined state with Israel in which they could enjoy full equal rights.

Along the way, the thobe has grown in popularity and changed.

During the first major Palestinian attempt to break free from Israel in the 1980s, guns and flowers were often part of thobe designs. Now, Palestinian women of all social classes wear thobes to show support for an independent nation at special events.

“It’s a way of defending our national identity,” Saca said.

The care, hard work and skill that go into making a thobe prevent it from becoming everyday clothing. But less costly¹⁴, mass-produced versions of the dress have become popular.

Younger Palestinians, especially those spread far from their homeland, are changing the traditional dresses to modern tastes. Girls are asking for shorter and less embroidered versions, notes Rajaa Ghazawneh, a thobe designer in the West Bank.

Rashida Tlaib said her Palestinian thobe brought back memories of her mother’s West Bank village. The U.S congresswoman called her choice to wear the dress a demonstration¹⁵ of her love for the Palestinian people.

It has since increased interest in the dress worldwide.

I’m Dorothy Gundy.

And I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

dress – n. a piece of clothing for a woman or a girl that has a top part that covers the upper body and a skirt that hangs down to cover the legs

embroidered – adj. covered in special designs made using a small, very thin object that is used in sewing and that has a sharp point at one end and a hole for a long, thin piece of cotton, silk or other material

exhibit – n. an object or a collection of objects that have been put out in a public space for people to look at

conjure(s) – n. to make you think of something

puberty – n. the period of life when a person's sexual¹⁶ organs mature and he or she becomes able to have children

three-dimensional – adj. having or seeming to have length, width, and depth

pocket(s) – n. a usually small cloth bag that is connected to a piece of clothing that is open at the top or side so that you can put things into it

catastrophe – n. a terrible disaster

nationalism – n. a desire by a large group of people, such as people who share the same culture, history or language, to form a separate and independent nation of their own

autonomy – n. the power or right of a country or group to govern itself

1 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

2 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

3 embroidery   

n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品

参考例句：

• This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品，使人惊叹不已。
• This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。

4 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

5 conjures   

用魔术变出( conjure的第三人称单数 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• The word 'birthday' conjures up images of presents and parties. “生日”这个词使人想起礼物和聚会的情景。
• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。

6 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

7 expelled   

驱逐( expel的过去式和过去分词 )； 赶走； 把…除名； 排出

参考例句：

• She was expelled from school at 15. 她15岁时被学校开除了。
• After the outbreak of fighting,all foreign journalists were expelled. 战斗开始后，所有的外国记者都被驱逐出境。

8 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

9 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

10 suspension   

n.悬挂，悬浮液，暂缓，未决，中止

参考例句：

• The local authorities decided to build a suspension bridge over the river.地方当局决定在这条河上建一座吊桥。
• A four-day suspension was imposed on her.她被勒令停职4天。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 autonomy   

n.自治，自治权，人身自由，自主权

参考例句：

• Branch managers have full autonomy in their own areas.分支机构的经理在其管辖范围内有充分的自主权。
• China has instituted a system of regional autonomy in minority areas.中国在少数民族聚居地区实行民族区域自治。

13 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

14 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

15 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

16 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。