Hebron, Palestine, awarded World Craft City 2016

Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank has been officially awarded the title of World Crafts City, Rola Maayah the PA’s Tourism and Antiques Minister announced on Tuesday.

This is the first time a Palestinian city had been granted the title by the World Crafts Council. Maayah told reporters:

“Hebron is an ancient Palestinian city that has more than 6,000 years of history and heritage that should be shown to the whole world.

“This title is very important for Hebron’s old city, which suffers from Israeli daily violations and settlement construction.”

Hebron is has been famous since the Ottoman era for its wide variety of industrial and luxury products, including porcelain, pottery, glass, olive wood and leather.

However, as a result of the Israeli occupation, the city has become known as a site of volatility between the Palestinian majority and a small minority of harshly conservative Israeli settlers, whose presence is facilitated by a large-scale presence of the Israeli military.