FAIR Trade

Economic Situation and the Role of Craft Groups in Palestine

PS48 works with organizations that strive for economic self-help through craft production. Since the Intifada (popular uprising) broke out in the fall of 2000, the economic role of these craft producers, most of whom are women, has become crucial. Many women have become a main breadwinner of the family, as their husbands lost jobs inside Israel or Palestinian cities due to the hermetic closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

Over the last several years, it has become an enormous challenge for these craft producers to carry out their day-to-day work. Due to the curfew and closure of communities, village women are often unable to bring finished pieces of embroidery to their cooperative to receive wages. The craft organizations are having difficulties obtaining fabric and threads, prevented by hundreds of army checkpoints and road blocks that are placed across the West Bank. Traveling in and out of Gaza Strip has become virtually impossible, as the Erez Crossing, the Strip's only gateway to outside world, has been closed to most people. 

Today, with the rapid construction of the Separation Wall, Palestinian communities are threatened with further physical isolation and economic stagnation. The role of the craft groups, as well as Sunbula, will become even more vital to meet the needs of hundreds families to afford food, clothing, education, and medical care.

FAIR TRADE

Empowering Palestinians, working with the marginalised, preserving cultural heritage.

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