Rafah (Queer Tatreez)
Learning Activities Information
Forward
The following narrative is for teaching purposes and is being provided as a summary of personal reflections by the author from which deeper research and conversations can be born. As a Palestinian American, the author is not speaking for all Palestinian people but rather shares her cultural experience with the reader. The concepts included are multi-faceted and complex and cannot be easily defined. In addition, each person’s definitions of these concepts may vary widely. Her goal with this curriculum is to spark curiosity so that the reader will gain new understanding and feel inspired to start or continue their journey supporting Palestinian artists, reading Palestinian authors, and participating in the creation of a just world without genocide.
Trigger Warning: The following curriculum contains information about militarized colonization and violence that may trigger deep emotions.
Palestinian Tatreez
My grandmothers and I share cultural memory and Indigenous geographies, existing together through Tatreez, Indigenous Palestinian embroidery. Palestinians have stitched Tatreez for hundreds of years, which has been traditionally handed down by women sharing their unique insights and skills within their families and communities. That is why there are many diverse techniques used to create Palestinian textiles and patterned designs called motifs. A community stitching group is often referred to as a Tatreez Circle. Tatreez is more than beautiful adornment as it communicates inherent connections to our land and to each other. It is often created to adorn a dress called a thobe. The thobe has numerous motifs sewn densely together to create a full design. (Please see links below for more information.) Tatreez is more than design as it is deeply cultural and spiritual for many Palestinians. The designs can signify identity, communicate our histories, and express spirituality across generations. Tatreez creates a legacy of cultural connection to our lands, reclamation of identity, and resistance to oppression. Contemporary Tatreez artists preserve traditional designs while also evolving the craft with innovative motifs and embroidering onto new mediums like jean jackets, T-shirts, and more.
I am a Palestinian visual artist and poet, living in exile in North America. My creative work strives to bring our Indigenous teachings, rooted in spirit and land, fully into the present moment. The background in the artwork, Rafah (Queer Tatreez), is a Tatreez pattern that I recreated digitally stitch by stitch. The pattern itself can be seen in many ways and has varying interpretations in different regions of Palestine. My family is from Ramallah, and we call this motif Moon with Feathers. Other regions denote different names for this motif, some seeing it as a flowering plant with one flower in the center and additional flowers in each corner. Beneath the stitches is found a pink galaxy of stars referring to the divine feminine energy that brings connection and re/birth. Teta is Arabic for grandmother. In this work, I painted Teta grieving and her tears are gray kites.
By incorporating Tatreez inspired patterns into visual poetics, my goal is to create a new visual artform, Queer Tatreez—a style of art and literature focused on queer and trans Palestinians living in Palestine and those living in exile as they have a rich history of creating, sharing, and celebrating Tatreez despite their cultural erasure. As the culture of Tatreez evolves it becomes increasingly diverse and inclusive. My goal is to bring together queer and trans Palestinians in a shared artistic space so we can grieve our losses and celebrate our lives together, ultimately empowering new futures for our communities.
For this artwork, I researched ancient and modern patterns of Palestinian embroidery to plot and re-create the background design on a digital grid. Once completed, the patterned imagery was placed within the larger context of the artwork through a process of graphic art layering. My work incorporates multimedia modalities and is an ever-evolving journey. Contemplating both traditional and modern Tatreez patterns and the act of Tatreez creation in my artwork becomes a bridge into deep time where I sit with my grandmothers in our sacred Tatreez Circle and listen.
More Information
Tatreez and Tea
Palestinian Tatreez Resource Page
Kites
In 2011, the children of Gaza won the Guinness World Record for the most kites flown simultaneously: 12,350 kites. In my visual poetics, kites are an important symbol representing the hopes and dreams of Gazan children, Palestinians living in Palestine, and those living in exile. In my artwork, kites may also act as documentation, as prayer, and as witness. In November 2025, the Gaza Health Ministry reported the death toll as surpassing 70,000 since October 2023. Death in Palestine has disproportionately affected women and children as well as highly targeted groups such as medical workers, social workers, leaders, journalists, writers, activists, and artists.
Palestinian Flag & The Right of Return
The Palestinian flag colors are red, white, green, and black, the same colors of the flying kites in my artwork. Kites rising, born from Teta’s tears. The Palestinian flag is important to many people and for many reasons. When I see our flag, my heart opens to a vision of living free in our lush homeland. I also feel hope as it is a reminder of the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees and our descendants. The Right of Return is deeply rooted in international law and supported by various United Nations resolutions. It legally outlines our right to return to our homes and properties that were stolen as well as the right of refugees who choose not to return to be compensated for lost property. Many displaced Palestinians still hold the original key to their family’s houses in Palestine. They preserve the keys while knowing their homes may be currently occupied by colonial settlers or destroyed. Home is a legacy we steadfastly hold onto until return.
Poppies
In the artwork, Teta’s hair is made out of painted poppies, beautiful flowers that bloom in Palestine. The poppy flower (primarily Anemone Coronaria, Poppy Anemone) is a powerful symbol for me as a Palestinian. The flower symbolizes my Indigenous connections to my bountiful homeland. Poppies often grow in dry and harsh environments, overcoming adversity to beautifully blossom, a process that strengthens their spiritual symbolism. I feel that poppies are a living memorial to those who have suffered and those who have been killed for/on the land. When the poppies return each year, they are often celebrated and recognized as part of our cultural inheritance of sacred remembering, collective grief, and an ever-present longing to return home.
More Information:
Rubble
Rubble is comprised of the broken pieces of destroyed buildings and roads. The pieces may contain brick, asphalt, concrete, and other heavy debris. Rubble in Palestine is often jagged pieces of concrete that crash down causing injury or death and creating poisonous dust clouds (typically gray in color). In the artwork, Teta’s tears are kites painted the color of rubble.
Rubble and remaining debris in Gaza “could generate more than 90,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions—and take as long as four decades to remove and process, a study has found,” according to a July 2025 article from The Guardian. Rubble doesn’t just harm people in target areas; it is part of a larger context of ecocide that is affecting our planet.
Design a Kite for the Children of Palestine
