The Fakhoury Family

The Fakhoury family has been in the business of creating traditional Palestinian ceramics for over five generations, with the name ‘Fakhoury’ even translating to ‘potter’ in Arabic. Located in the heart of the Old City of Hebron, the family shop has been running since 1964 and is the largest pottery business in the region that still uses traditional techniques. The Fakhoury family has been able to preserve traditional Palestinian pottery techniques dating back to the Ottoman times through their intimate passing down of artistry generation to generation, resulting in these one-of-a-kind pieces. 

All handcrafted and locally sourced, the Fakhoury Family pottery’s perseverance in spite of intense Israeli occupation and harassment has been a proven testament to the resilience of Palestinians and an active force of resistance through oppression.

The city of Hebron is one of the many cities in the West Bank that has been subjected to violence by settlers and occupation forces. Ever since 1994, Israel has forced over 1,500 Palestinian shops in Hebron to shut down. In the city, Palestinians aren’t allowed to own or run any shops, but that did not stop the Fakhoury family. After over 62 military checkpoints were put in place making it nearly impossible to move throughout their own city, the Fakhoury family transporteshd their materials on small carts through each checkpoint to continue their work. 

The Fakhoury Family’s preservation of traditional artistry in the midst of occupation is a perfect illustration of sumud, or ‘steadfastness’ in Arabic. The term dates back nearly 60 years and is the Palestinian meaning of resistance through existence. The family is a living testament of the power of sumud and the importance of preserving Palestinian culture in the midst of a world trying to erase it.