Muhammad Albo

The maker of the Knafeh of freedom

I am Muhammad Iyad Bajis Albo, 25 years old, from Halhol, north of Hebron. I own a small cart to sell Knafeh on coal which I proudly learned to make from my father inside the Israeli jail. My father is the prisoner Iyad Albu, he was arrested when I was a baby and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. I met my father in prison after my arrest. It was a happy and painful moment at the same time. My father made the Knafeh for the other prisoners, and taught me how to make it, so I started to make it for the prisoners. Making Knafeh inside the prison is different. In the prison we used bread instead of semolina and butter instead of lard without a proper oven. The Knafeh means a lot to me, it is my father’s legacy that he passed on to me in prison. I am very happy to make it and that it is a source of my living. People like my Knafeh especially when they realize that I am a former prisoner and a son of a prisoner who taught me how to make the Knafeh in prison. It is the Knafeh of the freedom’s hope.