Who we are?
Read a little about who we are and why we do what we do…
Our Story
In May of 2017 I had the privilege of travelling to the West Bank in the beautiful land of Palestine, during which time I was able to spend just a short while in the Old City of Hebron, a place that can mend your soul and break your heart.
I was totally unprepared for what I saw : the beauty, the decay, the obvious weight on the shoulders of the people in the streets and the once bustling marketplace reduced to a ghost town where now “even the ghosts are starting to leave”.
As you walk through those ancient, almost deserted streets you are followed by both the tear-stained eyes of little kids trying to sell you a plastic bracelet for a few shekels and the not much older eyes of the young Israeli soldiers with their M16s strapped across their shoulders looking down on you from the gun turrets above. It is intimidating and incongruous to say the least but somehow those that remain do so with a dignity as astonishing as the exquisitely coloured displays of textiles, spices and fruits.
It was here that I met Jamal, a remarkably eloquent man who will happily relay in perfect English the story of his struggle to maintain the market stall handed down to him through the generations from his great grandfather. He sells amongst other things the most beautiful Palestinian rugs from the store he has known since his childhood but which now is on the brink of closing forever.
As I listened to his story I wanted to take something of it with me. I wanted something to help me to not forget, something to keep the story alive as the months passed and the memories faded. So it was that I bought a rug with the intention that every time I stood in front of a microphone to share my songs and stories I would stand on it, I would ‘stand with Palestine’ and I would remember Hebron. I would remember the smells, I would remember seeing the doors to Palestinian homes that had been welded shut in order to keep the occupants from walking on the street outside, I would remember the confines of the checkpoint turnstiles and I would remember the one scene that summed up the beauty and oppression of Hebron…a small group of red roses growing wild beside vicious rolls of razor wire.
Fast forward to 2019 and I once again found myself in Palestine, this time the purpose of the trip was to help rebuild a Palestinian home that had been demolished by the Israeli Occupation Forces in late 2018. They were 10 of the most remarkable days of my life and served to increase my resolve to set up this venture. I was able to find a day to get back to Hebron and make the necessary connections to turn the thinking into action. It has not been straight forward since then but all the required steps have been taken and our first shipment of rugs is on the way.
I hope you enjoy looking through the store and find something you like. I would very much like to remind you though that if you were to purchase one of these beautiful handmade rugs you are buying something so much more than just a rug. You are funding hope and solidarity, you are creating a connection, bringing a little joy and a little extra light into the life of some folks who have much darkness to contend with and for that I thank and applaud you from the depths of my heart.
Adrian (August 2019)
Our Mission
Our goals are threefold:
Firstly to share the beauty of Palestinian crafts by bringing hand-made rugs to the UK and in doing so bringing some desperately needed commerce to the Old City of Hebron.
Secondly to give artists, musicians, performers and anyone else for that matter the opportunity to Stand With Palestine and thereby begin and continue more conversations about Palestinian Rights.
Thirdly, to put every penny of profit from this venture into buying and gifting traditional Palestinian musical instruments to schoolchildren in Hebron in order to help preserve and celebrate their ancient and beautiful culture which is under such incredible pressure.
So when you buy a rug from us you are in fact buying so much more than that. You are funding hope and solidarity, you are creating a connection, bringing a little joy and a little extra light into the life of some folks who have much darkness to contend with and for that we thank you from the depths of our hearts.
Adrian, Lindsay and Forest.
