Above:  Palestinian Wedding (embroiderers:  Mothers' Embroidery Group, Al Deheishe Bethlehem, Palestine;  below:  Palestinian henna party (Embroiderer:  Ruba Al Behery (Bir Seb'a), Gaza.   Two of the 100 tapestries in the exhibition.

Top: Faris O'deh, Standing Alone (Embroiderer: Nawal Ibrahim al Ahmed [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon.

"The Palestine History Tapestry (PHT)  uses Palestinian women's embroidery skills to illustrate the land and people of Palestine from Neolithic times to the present."   

The Mississauga Valley Textile Museum  (MVTM) in Almonte, Ontario is exhbiting this remarkable  collection of hand embroidered (cross-stitching) tapestries demonstrating the history and experience of the indigenous people of Palestine.

The tapestries are part of a proposal by a former  UNWRA* worker, Jan Chalmers, in 2012 and quickly adopted by the Palestine History Tapestry Project.   Later the Project merged with the Palestine Museum US.   The PHT is led by Jehan Alfarra and Ibrahim Muhtadi.

The Project's first phase was completed on the 70th anniversary of The Nakba (the Catastrophe)  - the mass displacement of 700,000 Palestinians during the creation of the State of Israel through United Nations Resolution 181 (29 November, 1947).  The Tapestry project was launched on 11 December 2018, the anniversary of the UN General Assembly's Resolution 194, 4 November 1948) affirming the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes or receive compensation for their loss.

Members of the Focus on Palestine Group of First United Church Westboro, Ottawa, attended the official opening of the exhibition on February 14th.  The Group had contributed financially to sponsor the exhibition.   Through this fine display of art both the resilience (sumud) and righteous resistance of the Palestinian people for truth, justice, and liberation are  witnessed.

Almonte is just 45 minutes north and west of Ottawa.  If you are in the eastern Ontario region between now and April 19th, the MVT Museum, housed in one of Almonte's historic woolen mills,  will welcome you and provide a time of tapestry story telling that reveals the heritage and hope of Palestinians.   The town of Almonte has its own history worth exploring and welcomes tourists to walk alongside Ontario's Mississippi River sparkling waters.

Visit MVTM's website for more information:   mvtm.ca. 

Phone: 613 256 3754.   Location:   PO Box 374, 3 Rosamond Street East, Almonte, ON  K0A 1A0

Harry Oussoren

February 16, 2026