CONSCIOUS CHOICES A GUIDE TO ETHICAL CONSUMERISM IN PALESTINE Published by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Palestine & Jordan office, December 2014 Creative Commons License Authors: Muna Dajani, Lina Isma’il Editors: Alice Gray, Chris Whitman, Svenja Oberender Design: Dennis Sobeh Photographs: Muna Dajani, Lina Isma’il (Unless otherwise specified with an * at the end of the text) This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the Heinrich- Böll-Stiftung. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and therefore not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. TABLE OF CONTENTS A Letter from the Authors 4 A Word of Welcome by the Heinrich Böll Foundation 5 Why Shop Ethically in Palestine? 6 Agriculture in Palestine 10 Handicrafts 13 Formulating New Standards for Shopping Ethically in Palestine 14 Fair Trade and Organic 15 Networking and Social Dynamics of Ethical Consumerism 18 Food 24 Handicrafts 56 Wine and Beer 108 Educational 116 Shops 126 Larger Companies 138 Seasonal Calendar 142 Useful Links, Campaigns, and Readings 144 A LETTER FROM THE AUTHORS Muna Dajani Lina Isma’il We are two close friends who have a passion this guidebook a look every month, look for a for everything related to environment, producer near you that has a story to share, Palestine, local authentic food, and and organize a visit there with your family, indigenous culture. We share that passion friends, or on your own. You will be surprised with many colleagues from organisations how uplifting an experience it could be for such as the Heinrich Böll Foundation, as well you and the producers. as friends and activists around us, who have come to realize the unsustainable economic This summer, we have been on a both structures we are forced to live with while marvellous and frightening journey of living under occupation. discovery and enlightenment, seeing the This guide is an attempt to celebrate the ups and downs of Palestinian society, heroes and heroines of Palestinian local realizing the challenges that lie ahead, and production. It is not at all perfect, inclusive of witnessing the horrendous events that all producers, or providing a secret panacea shook the Gaza Strip – but also rejoicing in for failing economic structures in Palestine the hope that our rich culture embodies. and how to solve them. It is however pushing Meeting farmers who are struggling to make us all, as consumers and active citizens, ends meet brought us to tears, but it was to question our daily lives, eating habits, with smiles, determination, and promises shopping patterns, and therefore the quality of future meetings that we parted. Having of life we are seeking. To close our eyes and tea and breaking bread with wise women of imagine the Palestine, we would like to live the south, we were taught that it is not new in is to imagine a harmonious place that possessions that provide us with satisfaction respects and preserves its local traditions and happiness, but rather a 100 year old and crafts, a community that is aware of its wool carpet that has been passed from one actions and influence on other beings, both generation to the next, and that such items human and non-human. It is important to are worth more than gold. The determination realize that our existence and consumption of the young to safeguard the soil upon patterns do make a difference and can which they stand, or the eyes of the old be geared towards creating change for which tell stories of contesting anecdotes people who are clinging to ethics of identity, of dispossession, bliss, hope, and yearning integrity, dignity, and pride that we all believe is what should guide us to live with more in. awareness of our being, our choices, and our relationships with one another. With this This guide is trying to invite us to look around image, we concluded a summer of meeting us and start forming relationships with our producers, hearing their stories and dreams, neighbourhood’s shopkeepers, farmers, and wishing that we could all pursue a life artisans, and artists as an alternative to the full of solidarity, community, and hope. It will fluorescent-lit supermarket full of products be the only path that can help us achieve the of unknown origins. We invite you to give long awaited freedom and justice we seek in this land. 4 A WORD OF WELCOME BY THE HEINRICH BÖLL FOUNDATION Dr. René Wildangel The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a German In the past, we had many visiting groups political foundation which shares their from Germany who asked us how they can views with the German Green Party. It tries travel responsibly while in Palestine, without to empower initiatives that work towards doing harm to the local Palestinian economy a vision of more justice, sustainability, or, for example, ending up buying settlement solidarity, and equality on a local and global products from the Dead Sea without even level. Activists and critical consumers around knowing. I am hopeful, that this little guide the world who do not only care for our will not only be an inspiring read, but also environment but dare to confront corporate a valuable source of information both to interests as well as their own or foreign Palestinian consumers and foreigners governments’ often harmful policies are a visiting Palestine with the potential to inspire cornerstone in this vision. I am glad that with change. I want to thank Muna and Lina for Muna and Lina we found two authors for this their commitment to this project, and Svenja guide who are wonderful Palestinian activists Oberender for making sure that this idea working not only towards a Palestine free actually came into practice. from Israeli occupation, but also towards the ideal of a truly free Palestinian citizen. 5 WHY SHOP ETHICALLY IN PALESTINE? INTRODUCTION For many decades now, Palestine has inspiration. We feel assured that once you been undergoing times of systematic and start approaching your shopping choices institutionalised human rights abuses, in this way, you will develop a similar list of belligerent military occupation, and producers and artisans that you know in your crippling conditional aid. With a struggling neighbourhood or town, or ones that you economy completely tied to Israel and a have met in person or heard about from your lack of vision from decision-makers on friends. Take note of these, and put extra how to empower local economies, many effort to know their story, try their products, of the local handicrafts, baladi products, and make ethical choices about how you and traditional artworks have lost their deal with them in the future. place on market shelves. Today, Palestinian markets are flooded with cheap replicas of Background: The Struggle for a many traditional items such as kuffiyehs Palestinian Economy (traditional scarves), Handala pendants, pottery, and other products, often carrying a From the water we get from the tap, to ‘Made in China’ stamp. Rarely do conscious the gasoline we fill our cars with, to the buyers find what they are looking for in fruits and vegetables displayed in our average stores, so they have to rely on word local food markets: resource theft and of mouth, personal knowledge of producers, exploitation highly impact our everyday life or cultural festivals to get their hands on and everyday consumption. Palestine is a an authentic and high quality Palestinian rich region in culture, history, and natural product. resources. While orientalists and politicians continue to describe our region as water This guide introduces you to the concept of scarce and our lands as unproductive, shopping ethically in Palestine. It will offer our ancestral existence on the land has you some guidance during the first steps of proved the opposite. Quite to the contrary, being an ethical consumer, shopping more Palestine is a region full of biodiversity and consciously, and making informed decisions rich in groundwater, with fertile soils and regarding your eating and living habits. We lovely landscapes. More importantly, it is do not offer a magical, all-encompassing overflowing with centuries old local and list of things to do or people to buy from indigenous knowledge and expertise on living but we aim to educate about the potential in harmony with nature and on exploiting we have harnessed in our hardworking resources in a way that preserves them for farmers and creative artisans. Next time future generations. you plan on buying a special present, or cook a seasonal meal, we invite you to flip The theft of natural resources in Palestine through the pages of this guide for some predates the 1940s and the foundation of 6 Israel, with successive Ottoman, British, and These popular actions for community Jordanian rulers to control and centralize resilience triggered alarm in the Israeli water and land use. The dispossession of army. One example of the hysteria that was land and livelihoods that occurred in 1948 engendered was the search for the “wanted and turned hundreds of thousands of 18” in the late 1980s – a group constituted Palestinians into refugees had a devastating not of high profile freedom fighters but impact on the farming communities of rather of 18 cows. With the first intifada historic Palestine. It ripped away the core at its peak, a group of activists from Beit identity that characterised the existence Sahour, in an act of defiance against the of Palestinians in their villages and towns. illegality of the Israeli occupation regime, An even bigger blow came with the Israeli decided to set up a cooperative dairy farm occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and produce an alternative to Israeli milk in 1967, when Palestinians were abruptly and dairy products.