Hadeel is a shop like no other, set up to support Palestinian people by providing them with a source of income. But it’s also much more than that.
Yasmina has been the manager of Hadeel, a fairtrade shop in Edinburgh which exclusively sells goods made by Palestinians, for two and a half years. In this time, she tells me it has been “the most rewarding, but the hardest job I've ever had. Not just for me, but I think for all of our volunteers.”
“Emotionally, psychologically, because when I deal with some of the producers, I have heard gunshots in the background. I've heard bombs.” Yasmina says while describing a Zoom call with the manager of Sunbula, one of the women’s organisations they work with, who lives in the West Bank. “She literally ducked, a bomb had gone off and she shouted that it was the closest it's ever been, and that was right at the beginning.”
Hadeel is a non-for-profit organisation. “All of our profits go right back to the charity, the grant funding and the other things that we do,” she shares. They are the “income-generating arm” of UK-wide charity, Palcrafts. “It's not just a shop that sells a product to a customer,” she says. “The fact that we're working with Palestinians and Israelis, it's a kind of multicultural organisation that's working for the betterment of all Palestinians, whether that be Christians, Muslims or Jews.”
Through the selling of Palestinian-only goods, the shop provides individuals with a sustainable income and challenges the “narrative that Palestinians have no culture.” Their aim is “to keep the Palestinian culture and heritage alive. To showcase the beauty of the products, the skills of the Palestinians, the pride. Every stitch, every workmanship, it's actually their hopes, their dreams, their blood, their sweat, their tears, the deaths of their families, the traditions that come along with it,” Yasmina relays.
“Palestinians don't want charity,” the manager elaborates. "They want to feel empowered. And this is how we empower them.” Hadeel collaborates with social enterprises, charities, and women’s cooperatives. Working at a “grassroots” level, the more items that are sold, “the more impact” that’s made.
“We never get involved in the politics behind it, or the justification, but in terms of what we do, it's already political because it's a Palestinian retail store.” She continues: “And at the end of the day, it's about humanity. It's about helping the next person. It's not about who's right, who's wrong. It's about the right to life, the right to exist, the right to be free.”
The shop is an apolitical “safe space” where people come in “to educate themselves ... to show solidarity ... to support ... just to make themselves feel as if they’re part of it, to offload.”
From here, Yasmina shares a particular story that stuck with her.
“I had a Jewish gentleman who's 86, from the beginning of the war, come in. Because I wear my hijab, he just put his hand on my arm and burst into tears and apologised profusely. I said to him, you don't have to apologise. It's not your fault, unfortunately, this is what's been going on for many years. And he feels that this is a safe space to come. He's been coming in for the past year and he always donates to the charity, puts in money, every time he comes in. Each time he is broken and, unfortunately, he does have family that are in the IDF.”
The origins of the shop lie with Carol Morton, a wife of a Church of Scotland minister based in Jerusalem. She started selling Palestinian-made goods there and continued on her return to Scotland out of a church room. More than 20 years later, the Church of Scotland still provides a great deal of support, alongside the Iona community. Hadeel also has positive relationships with activist groups.
“There is some kind of solidarity because we are all doing it for the same common cause. Our motives and objectives are very different, but ultimately, we’re talking about the Palestinian narrative, we’re talking about collaborative working and peace.”
For Palestinian people, the benefits are not just financial. Yasmina tells me that Hadeel is currently trying to source fabric and embroidery to send. “It's extremely cathartic for individuals to be able to work on the product and to take their mind off what is currently happening.”
Yasmina speaks of one of their collaborators, a woman living with cancer with two disabled children who embroiders for one of Hadeel’s suppliers in order to earn an income.
"[It's] really absolutely beautiful that we can do that," she says. "We have that platform where we can do this in a peaceful way, an impactful way. You can help by buying a product from our shop because you know where the money's going to.”
“You will never find another shop like ours anywhere in the world,” she says to me.
She describes some of the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. “Immediately, once we get the products, we try and pay them. Because of the challenges, sometimes, 2-3 months, we still haven't been able to pay, because I've made transfers 3, 4 times. We've got to watch the postal system as well because the postal systems been disrupted. So whenever there's an open window, we have to work.”
“The longer I work there and the longer this war continues, the harder it becomes because in terms of the loss of lives, the loss of skill, the deaths of people we work with and their families, the destruction.”
For Yasmina, the community is what keeps her and the volunteers going. “Every person that comes in has some kind of a story, and we have those conversations. And there are extremely powerful conversations.”
“We're all about empowering Palestinian people, whether that be in refugee camps in Lebanon or anywhere else. Because of the Gazans being displaced, a lot of them have moved to either Belgium, Cyprus, Cairo in Egypt. It helps them survive.”
Despite everything, the impact made very clearly outweighs the hard times. “It's extremely empowering. It's extremely important. And it's extremely worthwhile.”
Reflecting on the support that Hadeel has received, she shares that Palestinian people “are extremely, extremely thankful and grateful that the Scottish community see them, hear them, speak up for them, support them and care about them.”
You can find Hadeel at 123 George St, Edinburgh EH2 4JN. Stay updated with their news via their website, Facebook, and X.
