A SHOP in Edinburgh’s New Town is selling handmade wares by craft makers in Palestine, with profits supporting those in Gaza and the West Bank.
Hadeel, which sells fair trade Palestinian Crafts, provides a sustainable source of income and support for Palestinian craftspeople and artisans.
Their products include clothes, bags, stained glass ornaments, jewellery, and olive oil made by farmers in Palestine.
Many of their suppliers are grassroots social enterprises helping women bring their products to market.
The Hadeel shop, located in Edinburgh’s George Street, was established in 2003 and is run by UK charity Palcrafts.
The non-profit works with organisations such as Social Enterprise Scotland and The British Association for Fair Trade Shops and Suppliers, to bring authentic Palestinian crafts to Scotland whilst maintaining the livelihoods of the artisans who made them.
The project began in Jerusalem, with founder Carol Morton beginning a small organisation called Craftaid which later grew into Sunbula, The House of Palestinian Crafts.
Carol, the wife of late Rev. Colin Morton of the St. Andrews Scottish Church in Jerusalem, then moved back to Scotland where Hadeel was born.
Translated to “the cooing of a dove”, Hadeel also bears a dove in its logo, as a symbol of peace.
They state that buying from their shop helps to sustain infrastructure and provide health, education, and emergency services in “communities which lack any form of local government who might do this”.
Hadeel’s suppliers are mainly community-based groups in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon, where ongoing conflict with Israel has killed over 40,000 Palestinians and displaced many more.
Hadeel is also supplying produce to a pop-up on Glasgow’s Byers Road, which may soon be becoming a permanent shop and cafe.
