Ideas to support Palestinian businesses and charities this Christmas

[restabove]

Just a thought if you need ideas for Xmas gifts, here are a few Palestinian products you could buy this Christmas, that would also support Palestinians!

https://zaytoun.uk/ - lovely food gifts including extra virgin olive oil, dead sea bath salt, medjoul dates and more, all beautifully packaged

https://cafepalestina.co.uk/c/shop-palestinian-products - a selection of beautifully made pottery, food, soaps and more

https://www.palestinianproduce.co.uk/buy-online/ - lovely food and drink products

https://www.oneworldshop.co.uk/product-tag/palestine/ - more lovely books and food goods

https://shop.embraceme.org/collections/ceramics - pretty fair trade Palestinian ceramics

Donate (please do your own research but these are listed as trusted at this link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestine/comments/175hn8o/donating_to_support_palestinian_causes_trusted/

(more available at link above)

https://www.palestinercs.org/en - Palestinian Red Crescent - the primary humanitarian organisation in Palestine, they provide essential medical and emergency services.

UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East): This United Nations agency delivers crucial services to Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are

The Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF): A non-profit, non-political organization providing medical and humanitarian assistance to Palestinian children in the Middle East. PCRF Website : https://www.pcrf.net/

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières): Providing medical and psychological assistance to those affected by the ongoing conflict. Doctors Without Borders Website

Please feel free to list your ideas or other local Palestinian businesses, charities or product links below.

Norman Finkelstein is a crackpot who has been widely discredited for a very long time. He is absolutely hateful toward Israel and not a reasonable voice at all in this conflict. Just listen to him if you don't believe me. People can make up their own minds but anyone recommending him is seriously in the tin hat brigade.

Beware of donating to UNWRA, they will shortly be under investigation of not already for their role in the conflict. What they knew about the hostages and their bases being used as military buildings like the schools and hospitals. Also for giving aid to Hamas when it was meant for civilians.

Contrary to what eardefender has said, I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Finkelstein. However I understand why anyone defending Israeli govt would not be happy about sharing his views. Make your own mind up about him.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/eu-says-no-evidence-aid-palestinians-going-hamas-2023-11-21/

BRUSSELS, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Tuesday a review of its development aid to Palestinians, ordered after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, found no evidence of funds going to the militant group and that its assistance would continue.

This includes money sent to UNRWA.

Back from the derailing, I found these lovely looking Palestinian products on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/YaffaPalestinianProducts/Homepage/page/72C70E1A-E7D7-404A-BCDF-E607BE142C47

All just a word of caution, please do basic due diligence before purchasing any products purporting to be Palestinian. Most of the links I’ve seen on here look pretty legitimate but it’s not unheard of for eg products originating from settlements to be passed off as Palestinian so worth you just do a quick google search before parting with your hard earned cash!

@Desertrose2023 excellent point thank you!

to clarify that’s not intended to put a dampener on things or discourage anyone from buying products as i think this is a brilliant thread and a really great way to sustainably support Palestine !

https://shop.foa.org.uk/
This is a place I would recommend and all proceeds go to Palestine.

Thank you so much for posting, OP! I absolutely love Zaytoun products and haven’t purchased them in a while, so you’ve reminded me.

Hirbawi kuffiyehs are currently available for pre-order:
https://www.kufiya.org/product-category/shop/

That's a lovely range of colours!

@ChickHenLittle I am getting really tempted to buy a kuffiyeh. They look practical and multipurpose and I love the style as well!

Absolutely. A lot of dead sea products are Israeli owned companies. Ditto for products from "Jordan Valley".

At the weekend I was on an online talk/meeting with a woman from a cooperative just outside Hebron. It started with 5 women, and now has 150 mostly widowed women who are trying to make a living from home. They are surrounded by settlements so getting out of the village is very difficult for them to go to work. They do traditional Palestinian cross stitch.
They are called Women in Hebron and you can find them on Facebook.

@feralunderclass thank you and thank you @Desertrose2023 for pointing this out. If anyone notices any of the links on this thread are not legit please let us know!

@feralunderclass I managed to find their website from their FB page:

The Zaytoun dates and extra virgin olive oil are really nice. I've bought them locally from health food shops and Oxfam.

There is also a shop in Edinburgh don't know if it has been mentioned Hadeel
Hadeel Ltd | Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network (goodstuffedinburgh.co.uk)

If anyone knows of any specific Israeli brands dressed up as Palestinian brands that we should NOT be buying please list below.

They are! I'm currently using mine as a winter scarf, but they're equally good in summer to cover up and protect from sunburn (the good quality, thicker ones - the linked ones look like they are).

@ChickHenLittle thank you! can you recommend a particular place to get a good quality one from? So hard to know which ones are quality online. if you have a brand you can recommend would love to know.

@restabove 2 I've had for years, can't see a brand on them though so not sure if they are or were made by a small business/single person. They were from one of my parents (at least they've lasted lasted well!). I did actually buy another a few months ago, from ebay, and it's actually very good quality! I was dubious given the price but it's thick material and just as good as my older ones.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401341178062

Edit: To the best of my knowledge, although I've found the product I bought to be good, the seller isn't Palestinian, given the subject of the thread.

@ChickHenLittle thank you so much, will check it out! I am loving the dark green and black one.

Hadeel is great! Ordered Christmas presents from them last week and they have arrived - really lovely and unique items. I recommend!

For any art lovers (who are looking to splurge a bit) this gallery in Ramallah and Dubai represents mostly Palestinian artists. They have some beautiful prints and photos. Some of the stuff is very expensive but they also have some really great prints for around £150 - 200 (nb if you’re not based there shipping etc would be extra).

https://zawyeh.net/zawyeh-gallery-dubai-ramallah/

For more affordable options this site has some great stuff, including cook books of Palestinian food and other really nice accessories

https://www.palestineonaplate.com/