Our olive wood items are hand crafted by highly skilled indigenous artisans in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
The Olive tree is the very centre of Palestinian culture, and as such, is too valuable to be cut for the purpose of making carvings. The vast majority of the wood used for carvings comes from the seasonal coppicing of olive branches. However, olive trees are usually stripped of their branches every 20 years to maintain productivity. This allowed for the production of larger individual pieces of carvings, but those are dearer and more uncommon.
Nowadays, most Palestinians have limited access to their lands and olive trees due to Israeli enforced movement restrictions on the Palestinians, especially since the building of the Israeli wall on Palestinian lands.
Read more about our main supplier of olive wood items here.
All our items are fairly traded and brought to you directly from Palestinian artisans.
Whereas, our felt items are handmade by individuals with varying intellectual needs, also in Bethlehem, Palestine.
Ma’an lil-Hayat (Together for Life) – founded in Bethlehem in 2009 and a member of the International Federation of L’Arche Communities – is the first (and currently the only) community-based project in Palestine to bring together people with and without intellectual disabilities to share daily life. Members of Ma’an lil-Hayat come from various backgrounds from refugee camps, main city, and villages in the Bethlehem district.
The creativity of the members of Ma’an lil-Hayat is reflected in their artistic produce. Wool is sourced from sheep breeds local to the region known as Awassi, Assaf or Baladi and raised by shepherdesses and shepherds in villages on the outskirts of Bethlehem or Hebron. The wool is cleaned, carded, and dyed at the centre then turned into felted Christmas decorations and everyday items and gifts.
The main objectives of this community are to encourage and support equality and acceptance through diversity, personal development, freedom of expression, and to acknowledge an individual’s gifts rather than focus on their limitations.
The Bethlehem Shop is a UK based supplier of high quality of crafts from Bethlehem City in Palestine. We specialise in the ethical trade of handmade items, from olive wood carvings to felt handiworks.
We always ensure that the artisans receive a fair price for their produce. By bringing our collection to you through our Fair Trade registered cooperative of artisans in Bethlehem, we protect the makers from exploitation and guiding the perspective towards human rights across the global supply chain.
By purchasing one of our items, you will be directly assisting the world’s oldest mixed Christian-Muslim population to survive the combined pressures of economic closure, apartheid, and military occupation and to pass on the co-existence and multiculturalism to the next generations.
We at The Bethlehem Shop believe that ethical trading is the best way to support the continued existence of this unique community.
Show your support to this community of local Bethlehem artisans.
Through the purchase of these creations, you continue to aid the artisans in supporting themselves and in spreading awareness towards ethical trade and trade justice for Palestinian produce.