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Gazan sword-maker sharpens his blade to protect his craft

The Abu Wadi family has been making swords for hundreds of years, but will the disappearing trade see the next generation?
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In southeast Gaza City, in the Zeitoun district, the Abu Wadi family maintains its tradition of sword making, although their customers are getting fewer.

The family’s small workshop is furnished the same as when it first opened 60 years ago. Sword making has been the family business for hundreds of years, including during the years its members lived in the city of Beersheba and after their migration following the Nakba, or the "catastrophe," the forced removal of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes during the creation of the state of Israel in 1947-49.

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