Enlightening Entertainment
 
Visit to the Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah - (In Arabic)      
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Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Arabic, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Welcome, respected viewers. Today, we will present the first part of a 2-part series about the In’ash Al-Usra Society’s Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage, in Ramallah, Palestine. Ramallah is a beautiful city in the central West Bank, 6 miles north of Jerusalem. Founded in the 16th century, the city has a population of 25,500 inhabitants.

The In’ash Al-Usra Society (Rejuvenation of the Family) is a charity which was founded in 1965 as an initiative by Mrs. Samiha Khalil, a much loved Palestinian community leader. She firmly believed in the values of empowerment and self-sufficiency, and inspired many people through her life of community and national service.

The In’ash Al-Usra Society assists women in acquiring skills to earn their livelihood and to become active participants and decision makers in their communities.

The society runs the In’ash College, the Studies Center for Palestinian Heritage, a vocational training center, two clinics for health and dental services, a garment factory, a kindergarten and a nursery. It gives scholarly funds and provides housing and cash assistance to the needy as well as to victims of conflict.

The Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage was founded in 1977, as part of the society’s objective to develop folk handicrafts and to preserve Palestinian folklore.

Mr. Sami, who is a tour guide in the museum, will now show us around the exhibits’ collection. The museum is filled with items which traditionally have been used in Palestinian households.

Here, we notice that the Palestinian woman used to grind barley, wheat, or freekeh (roasted green wheat) by using a grinder this way… and she put either the Freekeh or wheat here, and then the ground item comes out from here. She used to grind everything and put a plate, a container, or something like that. Here we can see a cradle.

The Palestinian woman used to sway and comfort her baby in order to calm him, so, it was a a lot of work, and she did that until her baby calmed down and slept. This place is called “alkhabia,” it's the place where you can keep wheat and barley, or the hoard of the whole year, the place here has small windows to take sugar, rice, wheat, and from here, the freekeh and some other items.

Here is a wardrobe to put woolen blankets, covers, and mattresses in it, and this box is called almerkaz. This box… this is the wedding box; each Palestinian bride used to buy a box of this kind, and used to keep all her personal things and all her belongings inside this box. She kept all her money in this box, so the box has a key. There is no bride in Palestine without such a box. Since more than 40 years ago until now, every bride had such a box. It was one of her rights to have a box like this.

These are some items that used to be in the guest house or in the house of the family. This is the lamp as we have said earlier, and these are trays. Here is also what they used to prepare coffee or to heat many other things or to warm the home or guest house. This is a sieve. This is a lantern and it's like the lamp and it's used for lighting at night. This is called oud.

Those are brooms, those are some kinds of plates that were used to prepare food and the like. These are some of the items that were used in the Palestinian family home, in the house. This box was used to keep clothes and the personal things inside. This is called… it's like a basin for the home. You can see it from here. This also can be used for water, it can be used to keep the water cold in summer or to keep the water warm in winter.

This is the water hole, right here. There was a water hole, and this bucket was for it. This item was called meckel. We put water in this meckel and all kinds of birds come to drink from it.

After we return, we will continue our tour through the Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah in Palestine. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment and our visit to the In’ash El-Usra Society’s Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah. Our tour guide Mr. Sami will now show us more traditional items of Palestinian daily life. We are now visiting the museum’s beautiful exhibit of a traditional Palestinian guest house.

This is a guest house. The householder used to come to the guest house, as every family in Palestine has a guest house to receive guests and people, and the friends used to meet together and gather with each other in the sheikh's home and used to narrate their stories, their problems.

Anybody who has a problem within his house, within the family or with other people, used to come here to complain to the sheikh. Also, they used to stay up late at night together and to have a good time playing the rebeck, and singing like this way, and the people around the singer sing with him as a chorus or listen to his songs.

This rebeck has a deep meaning, it's not just an instrument to be played, it's also a kind of entertainment, and the singer uses it to express about social issues, meaning it's a kind of media to express what is happening in the society. And there is the coffee man who is using the coffee pot this way and he prepares coffee for the guests. This item is used for the coal.

This is the black coffee. They used black coffee as we can see here. It's necessary to know that the coffee pot is used with the left hand. He pours coffee with the left hand, and hold the cup in the right hand and drink it this way. They pour a very little quantity, just about one or two sips. It's something like courtesy when friends gather together. We used this charcoal to prepare coffee.

Mr. Sami shows us a traditional wooden Palestinian house door with a simple lock mechanism. He explains that there was no need for elaborate security systems since burglary virtually did not exist among the neighborly Palestinian people.

This door was used as a main gate to close all the doors, and there was no metal door. This is called the old style of door closer, and the big key that you see there is used here. As you can see right here, these are the kinds of wood, and this is the mechanism of the doors, there was no another mechanism, most people used this mechanism for the doors. There was no stealing, even though there wasn't a powerful army. There was no breaking into people houses, there was an abundance of politeness, good manners, and love.

Next, we will visit the museum’s embroidery collection. The pieces which are displayed here are produced by the In’ash El-Usra Society’s embroidery production center, which employs over 3,000 women and girls working from their homes.

As we can see here, there are so many Palestinian embroideries, with different designs, different colors. As you can see, here is a design, and here is another design. Here also we have another design, As you see, here we have a different design. Here, there are also different kinds of designs. This is the Palestinian jacket that was and is still sacred for the Palestinian people and it became an important jacket in all the events, and it's the standard one in all the Palestinian wedding parties.

Here are the same clothes also – very nice clothes that we feel proud about wherever we go. This was and will be our jacket, God willing. This is a jacket that is worn above the dress. For example it was worn this way. This is for women only, not for men; in other words, the Palestinian ladies used to wear this jacket over any dress.

But of course each dress has its own jacket. Do you see this, it's necessary for this to be of the black color. And there is also another thing… This is called a scarf; every Palestinian lady used to wear this uniform. Just in the last 10 or 20 years, some ladies turned to wear what is called “loose garments” as a kind of religious Islamic dress, but before that, all of them used to wear this dress or uniform.

This kind of embroidery was made by using The sewing machine or by using what is called the loom. So, the In’ash Al-Usra Society (Rejuvenation of the Family) was known for its Palestinian embroideries, and its main aim was to keep this heritage from getting lost. That's why it's one of the organizations that have done their best and spent their money, energy, and efforts in order to keep this immortal heritage which will continue to stay until the Judgment Day.

Thank you, warm-hearted viewers, for your company on today’s program. Please join us next Friday, August 27, for the final half of our 2-part series on the Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah, Palestine, founded by the In’ash El-Usra Society. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. Wishing you Heaven’s blessings, farewell for now.

For more information on the In’ash El-Usra Society’s Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage, please visit

Thank you, warm-hearted viewers, for your company on today’s program. Please join us next Friday, August 27, for the final half of our 2-part series on the Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah, Palestine, founded by the In’ash El-Usra Society. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. Wishing you Heaven’s blessings, farewell for now.

Explore a legendary collection of art from the National Museum of Afghanistan, dating millennia.

Look at these precious objects from different parts of Afghanistan, with different cultural integrity.

A part of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage almost never before seen.

You look at these artifacts and you wonder how they could be made. They’re so beautiful and the craftsmanship is remarkable.

See Afghanistan’s exquisite treasures in a 3-part series starting Tuesday, August 24, on Supreme Master Television’s Enlightening Entertainment.
Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Arabic, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

The In’ash Al-Usra Society (Rejuvenation of the Family) is a charity which was founded in 1965 as an initiative by Mrs. Samiha Khalil, a much loved Palestinian community leader. She firmly believed in the values of empowerment and self-sufficiency, and inspired many people through her life of community and national service.

The Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage was founded in 1977, as part of the society’s objective to develop folk handicrafts and to preserve Palestinian folklore.

This is the dress from the Nablus area, or rather from one of its villages called Ravidia. So it's the dress of Ravidia. The dress of Ravidia belongs to the Ravidia area which is a big village in Nablus. Nablus is a Palestinian city. These clothes belong to several Palestinian cities. Here we have costumes related to central Palestine, such as Jenin, Tulkarem, for example, or even Ramallah, some to Al Majdal which is a Palestinian city, others are related to Hebron. And some others may be related to Jericho, for example. Some costumes are related to the area of Jerusalem and the areas of Al Bireh and Ramallah.

For example, this dress here is related to Be'er Sheva. Here is a costume that is related to the areas of Al Bireh and Ramallah. This one is also related to the areas of Al Bireh and Ramallah. In fact, all these clothes are Palestinian embroideries. Palestinian women wore them daily formally and on all occasions, at weddings as well as at funerals. These clothes represent each city respectively, and each woman or all the women of that city wore the same style. Thus, they had a special dress.

Here, this is a Palestinian men’s costume, and this is for Palestinian women. For example, this is a cloak, all men of Palestine wore the same cloak. Although the colors were different in some areas, they wore the same as this mannequin. This dress is related to Ramallah and Al Bireh and it represents the Palestinian women. For men, the costume consists of several pieces.

Here, there is the al hatta on the head and also the al ekal – the cloak, which is brown here. All women wore clothes with the al ishar and al khorka. Men wore the cloak with the al hatta or al ekal and the like.

Next, we visited the museum’s exhibits of agricultural tools.

In this section, we will see the agricultural tools that prevailed in the occupied Palestinian territories, and still now, with some changes. For instance, here are some of the agricultural tools. This is a so-called dakran, it is used for harvesting. This tool was used to lift up wheat or barley. This is a pickax. This is a tillage tool which was put over cows, mules or horses to till the land; it’s called al teacha.

This was also used for harvesting, it’s a tool that was used to harvest wheat and barley – it’s a sickle. The peasants used it to cut grass, wheat or barley, etc. As we see, after the harvest, this sieve was used to sift and purify wheat, rice, barley, or any other types of grain. This tool was used to illuminate the Palestinian house, it is a lamp, as you see, it is used in this way.

It is filled with oil or kerosene. All these items are pans for cooking or carrying food: tray, cooking pans, as you see. This is a burner. It was used for cooking instead of a stove. As you see, it is equipped like this. This was a tool for cooking, the burner was turned on and equipped, as you see, like this.

Then the pan was placed on top of it. In this way, the cooking was done. This is a cover. Here we have, the al tabun which was used for the baking process. The dough was placed here and it was closed with a piece of wood or the like. Here was placed some kind of animal excrement or Wood in order to make fire, to bake things in the al tabun.

Next, we take a look a traditional Palestinian millstone.

Rice or wheat or other types of grains were put on here. It grinds grains. Then, the milled wheat or Barley dropped from here to be collected. This basket and other baskets were used for food, for carrying bread or fruits. This is the lakan, in the vernacular, the lakan (basin) was used for washing. The Palestinian women put water here and the other objects to be washed.

This pan, like the rest, was used to put the food here, this is a scoop. It is made of wood, as you see; it was placed here in order to stir the food. This is a misfaia, or filter, to get rid of water. So the water comes down through this and the food stays inside. Here are several kitchen tools. Some were used either in the kitchen or in the home and for various purposes. For example, this was the ironing cloth for the laundry. Here is the mortar in which garlic, nuts and so on were placed to be crushed, in this way.

After we return, we will continue our tour through the Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah, Palestine. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment and our visit to the In’ash El-Usra Society’s Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah.

In this section, we can see trays made of straw. They are made by hand, the Palestinian women made these trays by hand. The making of these trays is a piece of art, such as this tray, this one and this one. All were made by the Palestinian women with dry straw but it had different colors. Some of them were dyed to give them another color, just as you see here: red, yellow, and green. This is the art of the Palestinian families or women who were able to do these art works.

So, the Palestinian women used these trays for different occasions, such as baking, offering food, carrying and covering things. So, they used these trays and tools as an alternative to trays made of iron, nickel or al totia, etc., which exists now in the market. Here are different kinds and a wide collection of baskets which were used for many purposes, but all were used to preserve and carry vegetables and fruits.

This type, for example, was called the al methane, which means that the Palestinian women put grapes, vegetables, fruit and other things inside and carried it on their heads and went to another region to sell what they could and went back. Then, the next day in the morning, they refilled it with vegetables or whatever, and went to the market.

Here are some decorative items which were used for adorning; many women kept jewelry and ornaments that they had in the house inside a basket, here, and carried it by hand. Some women placed the basket on their heads, like this, and went to the market or any other place. In this manner they walked and went everywhere, looking very beautiful and wearing the rural embroidered costume.

To sum up, all that you see now are table tools, tools for offering and preserving food. There were no refrigerators but baskets. We had no table to place the food on but this tray. There were no large baskets, for example, and cabinets in the house; the women put their jewelry or whatever inside and kept it, as we have already mentioned. These are beautiful tools, as you see, very beautiful.

Women used it for the laundry or something like that. Because of the situation, Palestinian women could cope easily, they could give up a lot of needs and find another alternative. They had this kind of basket instead of plastic bags which exist today. They had the tray instead of the table, and instead of the car, they had the al methane, in which the women put all that they wanted to sell as well as other tools.

Since ancient times, precious herbs have been used in Palestine for many purposes. We visited the museum’s collection of traditional herbs.

There were various kinds of herbs used by the Palestinian families as an alternative medicine. This is the alternative medicine which was used in antiquity or in the thirties and twenties. Some people still use these herbs as medical herbs. One purpose is that they eliminate many diseases, and another purpose is that some of these herbs are added to food or cooking to taste good. Here are, for example, sage, chamomile, gall oak, incense, and al derias. Here is an herb to treat pressure, for example.

At the end of our tour, we look at some more traditional Palestinian costumes and jewelry.

This costume is related to another city called Bissan (North Valley), which is one of the Palestinian territories. So, we can recognize the region or the woman according to the costume she wears. As you see, this dress belongs to the Bissan area. This is the costume from Al Merden which is one of the Palestinian villages. As you see, it consists of many pieces, internal and external. These ardan, or sleeves, should be under the dress.

So, as you see, it consists of two pieces, one is green, as you see, it is overlaid, like this. This is the Al Merden costume, from North Palestine. This is the Baleek costume of Nablus. This is the al kombaz (outer garment); almost all men in Palestine wear the al kombaz. But this one is for women. Above the dress, the women put the al kombaz or the cloak.

As we see in this collection, there are some kinds of jewelry which the Palestinian women used to wear. This is related to the area of Al Wakaia. This is for al ashari, which was worn instead of gold, on top of the head. Here is gold, a rosary. There are some kinds of chains or pink necklaces, etc. These are other kinds, made of beads; various beautiful necklaces and bracelets, the Palestinian women used to wear these at happy occasions.

This concludes the 2nd and final part of our program on the In’ash El-Usra Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage in Ramallah, Palestine. We thank the In’ash El-Usra Society for preserving the priceless treasures of Palestinian folk heritage. May the beautiful people of Palestine always enjoy their traditions in peace and abundance.

Thank you, kind-hearted viewers, for joining us today. Now, please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May each day bring you more wisdom and fulfillment.

For more information on the In’ash El-Usra Society’s Museum of Palestinian Folk Heritage, please visit

Formulating a “Theory of Everything” - that accounts for all the forces of nature in a single doctrine has long been the pursuit of physicists worldwide.

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Dr. John Hagelin, world-renowned vegetarian quantum physicist has a theory that he says fulfills Einstein’s vision and can be practically applied to bring about peace in our world. To find out more, watch part one of “Dr. John Hagelin: Look Within to Understand the Universe” Monday, August 30 on Science and Spirituality.

Dr. John Hagelin, world-renowned vegetarian quantum physicist has a theory that he says fulfills Einstein’s vision and can be practically applied to bring about peace in our world.

To find out more, watch part one of “Dr. John Hagelin: Look Within to Understand the Universe” today on Science and Spirituality.

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