Saturday 20 October 2012

Naseer Arafat

A warm welcome from Naseer in an old soap factory which is now a Heritage Centre with an amazing variety of activities.

We liked them all but the ceramics and carpets were really brilliant. And great to have Naseer explain how the soap factory worked with the boiler for the mixture and pits alongside which held just the right amount of olive oil for the next batch of soap while warming it up from the fires of the current batch.

Naseer impressed us with his wide range of interests and knowledge. He is publishing a book next week and we hope to be able to get a copy.

He also created a strategic plan for Nablus which was launched at an event in 2010 which included representatives from all the twin cities of Nablus - including Dundee.

We had a robust discussion about the British rule of Nablus from 1917 to 1947. Not much evidence survives except some unused post boxes which are identical to many in Britain. Naseer told us of some architectural features which were required by British regulations. So nothing much positive to say and quite a lot negative.

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