Tuesday, July 01 2003 @ 06:00 PM EDT
"Speaking before his departure for Paris, where his annual fashion show will be held on July 8, he said that he was not using the Palestinian cause to advance his career .."
By Saleh Fareed
JEDDAH - Yahya Al-Bishri denied here yesterday that he has exploited the martyrdom of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Al-Durra to further his international career as a Saudi fashion designer.
He was speaking on the day the father of the Gaza boy, whose killing in 2000 became a symbol of the Palestinian uprising, laid flowers at the roadside spot where he died after Israel pulled forces out of the area. Mohammed, 12, was killed at a junction on Gaza’s main highway in 2000. Television footage of the boy’s last moments cowering behind his father shocked the world.
The uproar began when Al-Bishri designed a dress featuring bloodstains, an Israeli tank and a picture of Muhammad Al-Durra. Al-Bishri said that he had dedicated the dress to the children of the intifada.
Speaking in Jeddah before his departure for Paris, where his annual fashion show will be held on July 8, he said that he was not using the Palestinian cause or the martyrdom of Al-Durra to advance his career by generating publicity.
“Politics has nothing to do with my designs and the controversial dress was made only to honor those behind the intifada,” he said.
Yesterday, Al-Durra’s father, Jamal, who was wounded while trying to shield his son, wept at the site that was off-limits to Palestinians for 33 months until Israel withdrew forces in a disengagement deal required by a new Middle East peace plan.
Accompanied by six of his seven children, Jamal, 38, brought along a white pillow smeared with Al-Durra’s dried blood and stitched with the words: “A witness to the crime of the Zionist entity.”
Israeli troops shot Al-Durra near the turn-off leading to the isolated Jewish settlement of Netzarim, and Palestinians renamed the spot the ‘’Martyrs Crossroads.’’
In Jeddah, Al-Bishri, whose first steps toward a career in fashion designing were taken in Italy, called on Saudi businessmen to sponsor young Saudi designers and establish a fashion academy where designers could be trained.
“I think Saudi businessmen have neglected the fashion industry and if there were support for it, more job opportunities would be created. I will be the first to cooperate in order to help young Saudi designers and help them to take advantage of my experience,” he said. Al-Bishri accused Saudi art course of being behind the times and not delivering the proper message to students. “Unfortunately, they are still teaching the old methods and techniques,” he added.
He announced that within the next few months he would open the first fashion house in the Middle East for both men and women.
Al-Bishri came into the spotlight in the mid-80s when he designed an Arab gown for Britain’s Princess Diana.
Speaking of his experience with her, he said: “I knew that she normally wore only British designers but when she visited Saudi Arabia, I decided to approach her to show her my Arab style and was able to persuade her to accept it.”
The moment that was most important to him, however, was when Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, awarded him the prestigious assignment of designing traditional costumes for the Crown Prince and thirty other princes for the annual Al-Janadriyah Festival.
-[Arab News (arabnews.com).] Published at Arab News
