It’s 6pm and nearing 30 degrees in Umm al-Fahm, a city in northern Israel not far from Nazareth. It’s the home town of Palestinian knitwear designer Hazar Jawabra, who moved back in with her mother and siblings at the beginning of this year, leaving her friends in Jerusalem due to the ongoing war.
A year ago, Jawabra was on a film set. Assisting one of Palestine’s greatest costume designers (though she’s not allowed to tell me who it was), and advising on an exciting upcoming feature film. She had completed her course at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and was working in the industry; exploring the realms of film and television, but keeping the goal of having her own brand of clothing firmly in mind. Today, the Palestinian film industry has ground to a halt. But even though Jawabra can’t be on set right now, she’s still in the director’s chair for her own life.
Inspired by her grandmother, who taught her to knit as a child, the now 28-year-old designer has developed collections based on traditional Palestinian technique, crafts and colourways. Her looks are explorative, curious and loud, a celebration of Palestinian culture and, importantly, joy. Her mind is whirring with ideas for her next collection, which she describes as wearable, knitted streetwear. To Jawabra, her knitting needles are her vessels of self-expression. Like poetry, music or dance, knitting is her way of communicating her message to the world. So listen up, she has a lot to say.
We have so much joy and fun in our lives; it is not just about war
How has your day been?
Fine, I think. With the situation we’re in now, I’m confused. I don’t know if I’m fine. But I’m very thankful I live in Umm al-Fahm and not in Gaza, for example. I’m thankful I have a home to stay in.
It must be incredibly scary?
It’s just fucked up actually. Sorry. I was living in Jerusalem, but five months ago I decided to come back to my home town to live with my mum and my brothers. I was living with my friends in Jerusalem, I’d been there for ten years because I studied there too. When everything ends – I hope it will end soon – then I’ll go back to Jerusalem.
Do you have a daily routine?
I did. I was working in film and cinema as a costume designer and working with one of the best costume designers here in Palestine as an assistant. When the war started we were in the middle of filming a feature film in Palestine, suddenly everything stopped. The industry has stopped. I’ve wanted to start my own brand for five years and I thought, I have to do something to start my collection. But I feel bad. I really feel bad, because my people are dying every day and I’m thinking about a collection. But we’re not living the same life any more and I can’t do anything. It’s about to be one year since the war started and all Palestinians feel so bad because we can’t do anything. We’re sitting and seeing the news just like everyone else. My collection is something that gives me hope, it’s something that helps me and the women that work with me. It gives us something to do with our lives.
What inspired your collection?
Knitting is a tradition that has been passed from one generation to another in my family. My mother learned from her mother, I learned from my mother and my grandmother. It’s three generations in one project. I take their techniques but do it my way – my colours, my designs. With all the development in the world now, people are forgetting the past, like knitting. When you have a thread and you turn it into clothes, this technique is limitless – you’re free to do whatever you want. You can create whatever you want. People are forgetting that, they don’t appreciate handmade craft or clothes or objects any more. Knitting is very important, but nowadays girls my age don’t want to learn it. I’m very grateful that I learnt how to do it because it gives me freedom to express how I’m feeling.
How do you express your Palestinian identity through your work?
I’m trying my best to do that. I’m a proud Palestinian and I always feel like I have to try to show the world Palestine and what’s going on. But also, to tell people that Palestine is not just a war. It’s not just about death. We are people that have so many positive and good and funny things and we usually live just like any other people. It’s not just about war. No matter where I am in life, I will always be a proud Palestinian, I always want people to visit Palestine and to see the Palestinian people and to know them. We have so much joy and fun in our lives; it’s not just about war and death and crying. No matter what is going on in our lives, we will always have hope. In every situation, you will find that Palestinian people have hope. They’re not just people sitting at home waiting for the world to end. Our life isn’t just about war. I never do anything without my Palestinian identity being part of it.
Do you have a big dream?
I always dreamt of having my own brand. A brand that people from all over the world know about. I hope that I can do it someday. But it’s not easy to build a brand! To be honest, every time I try to start my brand there’s something that happens. Something that stops me. It’s not easy to start all over again. I’m very lucky that I have a collection that I designed in 2019 and people are still interested in that. But I’m trying right now to start to build it, and I hope I’ll continue. I hope I can do it. That will always be my dream.
Clothing throughout by Hazar Jawabra. Model: Delia at
New Icon NY. Photography assistant: Paige Labuda.
Styling assistant: Szalaya Miller