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Power cuts, cheap imports fray Gaza's handmade carpet industry

Handwoven carpets and rugs are an ancient Palestinian tradition, but few craftsmen are still making them in Gaza, where cheaper goods are flooding the market and the power outages narrow their windows to work.
Palestinian Ibrahim al-shobaky, 50, works on weaving a carpet at an arts and crafts village in Gaza City 13 July 2003. Craftsmen at the center, established by the Gaza City municipality in the mid-1990s, use an authentic loom to produce their colorful rugs, bags, cushion covers and bedspreads. A variety of other woolen products are produced at the center from, sheep, goat and camel wool, all dyed by hand the traditional way.  AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD HAMS  (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images)
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A dedicated group of craftsmen in the Gaza Strip continue to spin wool into handmade carpets. They're fighting to preserve the profession of their ancestors and wider Palestinian heritage from extinction as cheaper imported carpets from Turkey, Iran and China spread.

Weaving rugs and carpets is one of the oldest professions in Palestine. Excavation missions there have shown that weaving is one of the oldest crafts in the country. Spinning wheels and looms have been discovered to be 5,000 years old.

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