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Pottery making an endangered Gaza craft

Gaza's local pottery industry is yet another victim of the Israeli-Egyptian siege, as exportation is all but impossible, and electricity cuts hinder production.
Palestinian workers make clay pots inside a pot factory in Gaza October 19, 2008. The making of clay pots is an ancient and traditional profession in the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA) - RTX9PE0

GAZA CITY — Using two fingers, 24-year-old Abdel Salam al-Arabi shapes a lump of clay as it rotates on an electric pottery wheel, transforming the solid mass into a vase or pot within minutes. He then dips his fingers in water to soften the sides of the emerging vessel and mold the shiny soft clay before leaving it to dry.

“Pottery relies on the rotation of the wheel and the movement of the fingers. I can form whatever I want with a mass of clay. I am now making a bird’s nest,” Arabi told Al-Monitor.

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