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Three simple ingredients - olive oil, water and lye - have been combined for centuries to make soap in the Palestinian city of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The city has become known for it. The tradition has passed down from generation to generation, and recently, it was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf visited one of the oldest soap factories and brings us this report.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR HORN BEEPING)
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: It's around 7 a.m., and the old city of Nablus is waking up for the day, including at the Tuqan Soap Factory, right off the main square, where a powerful furnace has just been lit - the flames blasting, heating a giant vat of hundreds of gallons of waxy liquid above it. It's a morning ritual that has been happening here for more than 150 years.
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LONSDORF: Musa Al-sakhal scrapes a metal spatula through the mixture, which has been boiling on and off for several days, checking the consistency. He flips a switch, and a big metal blade starts mixing it, sloshing the thickening goop onto surrounding surfaces. Al-sakhal has been in charge of this process, cooking the soap, for 45 years.
MUSA AL-SAKHAL: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: He says his father had the job before him.
AL-SAKHAL: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "It's a job that gives me joy," he says, "doing something the way my ancestors did it."
There used to be dozens of soap factories like this in Nablus. Now there are only a few. This one, Tuqan, is one of the oldest, open since 1872.
NAEL QUBBAJ: We are producing soap using our traditional way.
LONSDORF: Nael Qubbaj has been managing operations for more than 30 years. He says here at the factory, barely anything has changed. I ask if the same can be said for outside the factory, in Nablus and in the West Bank.
QUBBAJ: (Laughter).
LONSDORF: And he just laughs. He switches to Arabic.
QUBBAJ: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "Over the past three decades," he says, "we have had to deal with increasing military impediments," referring to the roadblocks, checkpoints and raids that are part of the Israeli military occupation here. "It's hard for life," he says, "but it's also hard for business."
QUBBAJ: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: People sometimes can't get to work, or product can't be delivered. The day before our visit, the Israeli military raided the old city of Nablus as part of what it calls an extended counterterrorism operation in the West Bank. The factory kept operating, but it's disruptive and dangerous, says Qubbaj.
QUBBAJ: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: They've had to lay off workers, and production has decreased by about a third.
QUBBAJ: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "But we want to keep the legacy alive," he says.
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LONSDORF: We head upstairs with assistant manager Sultan Qaddura.
SULTAN QADDURA: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: The top level is a wide open room with a slick cement floor.
QADDURA: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: When the soap mixture is ready, after about seven days of boiling, porters carry it up here in metal buckets, spreading it on the floor to harden. Then it's cut into bars using long pieces of thread. Those bars are then stacked in high towers throughout the room to dry for three months. The final step in the process can be heard from the next room, a rhythmic flutter.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAPER RUSTLING)
LONSDORF: Men sit on the ground, surrounded by bars of soap, wrapping each one by hand in paper.
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LONSDORF: Qaddura says they can wrap about 1,000 bars per hour.
QADDURA: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "We call this soap the white gold of Nablus," Qaddura says with a smile. I ask what he thinks about the UNESCO recognition.
QADDURA: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "We're really proud," he says.
QADDURA: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "We work so hard to preserve this history. It's not just soap," he says, "it's part of our identity."
Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Nablus.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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