Since October 7, 2023, Palestinian T-shirts and Kuffiya have become common for New Zealand people to use, express solidarity. However, very few of these products were manufactured in Palestine; Shanti Mathias talks to a couple trying to change that.
“Our house has become much more Palestine,” says Matt Hayes. He and his wife, Noor Alshawa, are the founders of BayyāraA business that sells Palestinian ceramics, olive oil, spices and accessories in New Zealand. After months and months of delays, a truck pulled the car on the coast of Kāpiti the day I spoke to them, containing their first order of goods. They had to get the car out of the garage to make room for everything, and the other rooms in the house are full of olive oil and vibrant ceramic bars.
While last year and a half of war in Gaza, it has paused a fragile cease, brought the Palestinian cause to millions of people’s attention, it is remarkably difficult to get things that are really Palestine in New Zealand. “There are many things with Palestinian themes, but done elsewhere,” says Alshawa. It is possible, for example, to buy polyester kuffiya (entitled “Sun -Proof Tactical Limit for Outdoor Activities”) for US $ 4 of TemuWhile Bayyāra sells more expensive $ 69 kuffiya fabrics in Palestine.
His family is from Gaza, and Bayyāra was named after an Orange Grove, owned by Alshawa’s father. Before 1948, the orange trees flourished and their oranges were exported to the whole world. But after several years of Israeli control, the business was no longer possible.
Alshawa grew in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, listening to Bayyāra stories and life in Gaza of her parents born in Gaza. Before 2006, when Hamas was elected, they spent vacation with their family in Gaza. “It was a large part of our lives, not just a historical thing – there are so many memories of my family there,” she says. While she lives in New Zealand now, her Palestinian identity remains vital to her. “Even if you are born elsewhere, you don’t shut up on being Palestinian. When I was a child, we had hand -sewn pillows, books, Palestinian encyclopedias my father would read to us, ”says Alshawa. Behind her and Hayes, in the video, there is another reminder where they come from: a Palestine map and a map of New Zealand.
The war was devastating to Alshawa and his family. “It looks like someone slapped me on my face [on October 7 2023] And it hasn’t stopped so far – I don’t completely understand what happened. “Your uncle, aunt – an accountant – and at least five of his cousins were killed by the Israeli forces. Another uncle was injured and everyone lost their home – including a family apartment building that were built on their grandfather’s house, designed to have room for all family members to live or visit. He had just finished when the war and the attack began.
Alshawa, who married Hayes in 2023, watched it from afar, feeling broken. Initially, when she and Hayes came up with Bayyāra’s idea, they fit her as a way to help Palestinian business – but then realized that it didn’t capture the mutual relationship. “Palestinian companies are providing something people want, good olive oil and ceramic – you’re not just doing them a favor in buying them,” says Hayes. During the video, I see that their cat jumped on the table; He catches her and keeps talking. “People are willing to pay a prize for something from Palestine.” Palestinian olive oil is famous – olive groves are among the oldest in the world – and oil soap in a traditional process has been one of the most popular items of Bayyāra’s pre -orders, which the couple can now send.
So how do you import goods from one of the most vigilant, controlled and contested borders in the world? Around July last year, Alshawa and Hayes found their suppliers. “No one thought our requests were very small -I would receive the WhatsApp VoiceNotes from our sock ceramics supplier, saying” I just finished your order, “says Alshawa. Your food supplier, providing olive oil and Palestinian spices, offered to receive orders from other companies so that everything could be sent at once. It comes from West Bank, not from Gaza, but Hayes and Alshawa would love it to be an option in the future – and they hired a Gazan illustrator to create images for their site.
“I worked for companies that import from China, Vietnam, EU, Mexico – in all situations, it was more difficult to deal with suppliers than the Palestinians,” says Hayes. “If it wasn’t for the Israeli government, it would have been the easiest e -commerce business I’ve ever done.” Taking everything out of Palestine was the source of the months of delays. At first, they tried to take the shipment through Jordan and the Red Sea, but this border was closed by Israel. Eventually, they had to pay the Israeli government to pass the Haifa border. “I remember that if we had never taken it out of Palestine, it would be another victory for Israel,” says Hayes. Given how long it took the first time, they are already wondering if it’s time to start another request.
While Hayes and Alshawa recognize the urgent need for humanitarian aid in Palestine, they also see working with Palestinian business as vital. “People migrate because they can’t find job opportunities. If you want to support the cause, you can support people to stay where they are, ”says Alshawa. “There are many established and reliable charity institutions, but we feel that this was something that, as individuals, we could start, this is more sustainable to us and everyone.”
The couple is running Bayyāra next to their full -time jobs. They were surprised by the demand for Palestinian products, receiving hundreds of pre -enOMENCES, despite the delays in shipping. “There is definitely a gap in the market,” says Alshawa. The preserved identity of Auckland’s Palestinian store, one of the few other options for buying Palestinian products in New Zealand, has medo dates and many Palestinian recipe books, for example, but without olive oil. Alshawa and Hayes expect Bayyāra to show that “being from Palestine is not just about war, throwing stones – there is a long story.”
“Palestinians have the tools, talent and resources – are just being suffocated by the occupation,” says Alshawa. “Why not bring this opportunity here?”
