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Every Mother Has a Story

Rafa Mismar/The Media Line

Mother’s Day, known as Yaum ul-umm in Arabic, will be celebrated across the Palestinian Territories, the Gulf, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Libya and Sudan this weekend. To commemorate the celebration of this day, mothers are showered with love, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts.

Though inspired by Western culture, the Arab world has added its own traditions to the occasion, like playing the classic song by singer Fayza Ahmed, Set Al-Habayeb, which thanks mothers for all that they do. The tradition has been followed since 1960 in all Arab countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5091407Ywmk [1]

In Dubai, where the population has increased by 5 percent over the past year, flower shops, boutiques, chocolatiers and bakeries offer a variety of options themed for the celebration of Mother’s Day.

“In Dubai a spa day is considered a great Mother’s Day gift,” Assistant Marketing Communications Manager at Grand Hyatt Dubai and designer of the award winning Ahasees Spa and Club, Jasmin Bablani told The Media Line. “We enable our guests to experience the purest sensation of beauty, relaxation and quiet. We actively promote our Mother’s Day offers, and this year many mothers will be coming to the spa for some pampering.”

For some women, Mother’s Day is a reminder of how hard they worked to get their family.

“When my husband and I married, we were eager to start a family,” Jordanian teacher Mona Feras told The Media Line. “After ten years of trying to guess if I would ever celebrate Mother`s Day, we finally decided to adopt our daughter Jana.” Mona and Jana, now fourteen, will be celebrating Mother`s Day together in one of the Dead Sea resorts.

Mother’s Day began in Egypt in 1956, and has spread throughout the Arab world.

In Egypt, Mother’s Day and Nowruz, a holiday marking the first day of spring, are celebrated on the same day, adding to the festive environment. “Everyone in Cairo is out and about; the streets, parks and social clubs are crowded,” Roya Mohamed, an Egyptian stylist, said. “My family and I will walk along the Nile River, have lunch together and visit the Cairo Zoo, where my brothers and I will give our mother her gifts.”

One year, said Lina Jarar, a widow from the West Bank city of Nablus, her son forgot to give her a gift, and he cried. Now every Mother’s Day, she said, he brings her a gift, and she bakes him a special cake. They spend the day together at home.

“My husband died 20 years ago and he is my only child,” Jarar told The Media Line. “We don’t get to spend much time together due to our busy schedules, but Mother’s Day gives us the opportunity to catch up and go down memory lane while looking at old photo albums I have put together over the years.”