Diary for 2008 - 09

Events Hadeel will attend

10th-13th                      URC Gen.Assembly, Edinburgh

 17th -18 th                   Jeff Halper with SPF

 25th                               Queensferry Fair Trade event

 12th         8.00 pm       Cairns CoS Ladies Evening  Group – Bearsden

Liz Cairns (Chairperson) cutting the cake at the Palcrafts AGM/ Hadeel 5th Birthday celebrations

Bernard Sabella at Hadeel

On 23^rd May Bernard Sabella visited Hadeel before speaking to a meeting organised by the Scottish Palestinian Forum. Professor Sabella of Bethlehem University is the Executive Secretary of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees at the Middle East Council of Churches and an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

During his visit to the shop he praised the work being done, saying it related to real needs of Palestinian society, and that it played an important role in communicating the reality of the situation to ordinary people.

At the public meeting he spoke with great charm and humour but his message was very bleak. Firstly he told us that no-one has any faith in the current Peace Process, and that the issue of Palestine was slipping down the agenda as issues such as Iran’s threat to Israel’s strategic position becomes the focus of attention.

He told us about the MECC projects working in the Gaza Strip, with a hospital, health clinics and vocational training centres. Gaza has a Christian population of 3000 and most of the MECC staff working there are Muslim. These projects are important in demonstrating the cooperation between the faiths. He described the 1.5 million people living there as ‘hostages’ who are being ‘punished’. His greatest concern was young people, with those under 18 years old making up the majority. There is no hope, only despair and hence a 15 year old’s dream/nightmare is to become a suicide bomber. Israel’s policy of ‘hit, hit, hit’ is leading nowhere but Israel has ‘no vision for peace only a vision for security.’

There are some who believe that the economic development of the Palestinian Territories is going to be the way out, but there can be no development without freedom to travel. The majority of the 500 to 600 checkpoints are between Palestinian areas, even separating farmers from their fields. This hampers all economic activity.

Professor Sabella described conditions at Qalqilya, population 35,000, which is clearly visible from Highway 6 in Israel, and is completely surrounded by the wall with all entry and exit via a single gate. Here the Israel army has a policy of giving passes only to those either over 65 years old or younger than 18 – since all Qalqilya’s farm land is beyond the gate the clear objective is to destroy the agricultural economy and ultimately take the land.

Turning to politics he condemned the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip as counter-productive. They generate sympathy for Israel and gave the army the excuse to get away with murder. He was gloomy about any prospect of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, seeing no reason for Hamas to want to give up control of Gaza. He praised Prime Minister Fayad but recognized that he has no popular base from which to push forward his proposed reforms and his position is being constantly undermined by Israeli military activity. President Abbas has announced he will step down at the end of the year but Sabella predicts that he will stay on until 2010 if only because in any Presidential election it is quite possible that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would win. Despite having an elected Parliament the Parliamentary part of Palestinian politics is completely missing.

With the absence of a way forward to a better future more and more people are leaving both Israel and Palestine. Those leaving are the young, the talented and those wanting a peaceful life. This loss of talent affects both sides. There are 60,000 young Israelis resident in Berlin.

Prof. Sabella’s only hopeful comments were about the reaction of visitors, even Zionists, to the wall around Bethlehem and, cryptically, he said perhaps the Palestinian’s ‘strength will be their lack of power.’ But he did not elaborate.

Ross Campbell 6.2008

               Launch of UNISON Scotland as a stockist of Fairtrade

                                       Karen Hall, Nasser Abufarha, John Barton and Heather Masoud along with UNISON staff

“Fair Trade in Palestine: A Vehicle for Social, Economic and Political Empowerment”

5 October 2007 – cohosted by Palcrafts/Hadeel and Equal Exchange

Nasser Abufarha, founder and chair of the Palestinian Fair Trade Association (PFTA), commenced his talk by giving some details of his own background with fair trade and an explanation of why fair trade concepts are so relevant not only to the current situation in Palestine, but also to the olive oil producers in the region.  Eighty of Palestine’s orchards are given over to olives. The olive harvest comes at a time when little or nothing else is in season, making its social and economic importance even higher.

 The first priority was to raise awareness of the whole concept of 'Fair Trade' via workshops and community meetings.  There are no international guidelines for Fair Trade olive oil and these had to be developed on the ground.  In their first season, owing largely to some orders placed from the US, they were able to offer a minimum price for oil which was double the current market price. Understandably, this made a huge impact on farmers and by 2004 there were 1700 producers on their books.

 By July 2006 the PFTA were able to declare 375 farmers 100% organic, with the majority of the remainder awarded ‘in conversion’ status, which has opened up a whole new range of opportunities. They are currently working on increasing the percentage of Extra Virgin oil that they produce (from 20% to 80%) as another way of raising the value of their products. Since 2006 they have broadened their approach; starting with the formation of women’s co-operative groups producing other food products such as dried tomatoes, cous cous and soap, with the aim of integrating women into the Fair Trade movement.

Social empowerment: It is very difficult for charity or relief aid to be distributed in ways which do not eventually lead to dependency. This is one of the ways in which Fair Trade has added value; it contributes to giving people long term independence. “Assertion and recognition from Fair Trade provides empowerment for the farmers; it gives the weak power to articulate their entitlement.”

 One of the other ways that the sale of fairly traded olive oil is benefiting the community is through a series of community projects, for example; the Canaan scholarship fund, which helps to provide tuition fees for the children of farmers to attend university, and the development of a new centre for vulnerable high school students. This centre will eventually be staffed by both the graduates of the scholarship fund and international volunteers.

 Economic empowerment: The co-operative structure which Fair Trade encourages paves the way for small farmers to have a direct and personal engagement with international market forces that might otherwise be out of their league. Buyers have an opportunity to see Palestine in a different light; not just as an item on the news but as an agricultural entity with goods and services to offer.

 The introduction of Fair Trade principles and structures has resulted in the general market price of olive oil rising throughout Palestine; benefiting everyone, not just those farmers who are directly allied with the movement.

 Political empowerment: Fair Trade helps to focus awareness and attention on the community and the global/local problems which are affecting it. Through the use of leaflets and info panels on products, people can be reminded of an issue every day.  The products are “vehicles for our stories to reach a wider audience”.

 Nasser described the international distribution of their fairly traded olive oil as another form of Palestinian existence.  Palestine does not exist in our atlases but this does not mean Palestine does not exist.  The label ‘Made in Palestine’ represents more than just a statement of fact; it’s a different form of cartography which insists on recognition. In the current situation daily life itself is a form of resistance; continuing to work and to farm and to manufacture goods. Succeeding in getting their oil out of the country and onto the shelves in, not only shops, but also people’s homes is another shape taken by this resistance. The packaging of their oil as specifically ‘Palestinian’ is a form of communication with the outside world; it gives another level of meaning to the farming process and local activity. This oil is culturally and politically meaningful; it is not just a bottle of oil!

                                                                                                                        Hannah Grove, ed. CPM

        NEXUS/Christian Resources Exhibition, Glasgow

 Rediscovering Palestine is a coalition of organisations that are working in a variety of ways for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine.  Hadeel's display of handcrafts helps to attract visitors who valued our presence and the resources available from Amos Trust, BibleLands, Christian Aid, Church of Scotland, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, Friends of Sabeel, Friends of Spafford Children's Centre, Scottish Friends of Palestine, Scottish Medical Aid to Palestinians, and Palcrafts/Hadeel.