Nablus - "Jerusalem" dot com - Saja Jayousi / Madar for Press and Media - In the famous blacksmith market in the old town of Nablus, and among a group of commercial and handicraft shops, you notice a unique shop with wooden planks leaning on its walls, and next to it are some saws and simple machines for cutting wood. In the shop, you find an old man putting the finishing touches on what his hands made of a mobile wooden cart for a customer.

Hajj Nashat Arafat says that for 60 years he has been preserving his profession in the manufacture of wooden carts that are used for portage purposes or for selling purposes as a mobile cart.

He adds that he inherited this profession from his father when he was ten years old, and since then he has been sticking to this rare profession, and he has become the last manufacturer of this type of vehicle in the city, indicating his keenness to teach his son Raed to the same profession when he was fourteen years old. In order to preserve this inherited and endangered profession.

Arafat says that the manufacture of vehicles needs raw materials such as wood, nails, glue, and wood-cutting machines, so that the wooden panels are assembled with each other, after cutting the wood in proportion to its size, and fixing it with glue and nails, and then installing the wheels, and painting them with specific, recognized colors. .

He says that making these carts requires effort and time. In the past, it took a week to finish making one cart due to the manual work. Today, it takes no more than two days to make the cart, and this is due to the availability of modern machines that help him in the industry.
Arafat added that these carts are necessary for those who work as porters or for street vendors.

He points out that citizens' interest in purchasing vehicles is seasonal, but he continues to work on maintaining customers' vehicles on a permanent basis.

Arafat talks about several challenges he faces in his profession, foremost of which is the high price of wood, which drives up the prices of vehicles and the inability of customers to buy them, especially since they are either poor or have limited income.

Due to the decline in the demand for such vehicles, Arafat introduced making stairs, wooden windows, and coffins for the dead to his profession so that he could continue working and secure the necessities of life for his family.