Resolutions, Great & Small.

New Year's Eve should be a time for bellowing Auld Lang Syne and watching reruns of When Harry Met Sally.

One day in the future, that's what we'll do – but this year, it's been impossible to forget the suffering of our family and friends in Gaza.

So in a mood more sombre than it ought to be, we've put together a list of resolutions for 2025. The list is limited to things we can directly control (which is why "dismantle the occupation" isn't the solitary item...)

1. Contribute at least NZ$40,000 to the Palestinian economy.
   
   Thanks entirely to your pre-orders, we've already made a big dent in the stock from our first shipment, due to reach NZ around the end of February. That gives us the confidence – and funds – to place a second order with our suppliers in Palestine. At this stage, we hope to send at least $40,000 directly to Palestinian businesses in 2025.
   
   
2. Continue to prioritise freelancers from Gaza.
   
   One of our proudest moments in 2024 was working with Reem Harazin and her brother Ayman, who have both remained in Gaza throughout the genocide. In the midst of every conceivable hardship, Reem & Ayman produced an incredible animated illustration for our home page, beautifully capturing the essence of Palestine.
   
   The experience of working with them reaffirmed our belief that despite everything Israel has done – or wishes to do – Gaza still has a bright future. It will require solidarity from the rest of the world, and we're committed to supporting its freelancers in whatever ways we can.
   
   
3. Make Palestinian culture mainstream in NZ & Australia
   
   There's so much Palestine has to offer, yet it still isn't easy to sample the delights of Palestinian culture in our corner of the world. We have a lot of ideas about ways to change this, including:
   
   🌺 Get our website in front of more people, and introduce them to our olive oil, ceramics, tatreez, cookbooks, and other aspects of our heritage.
   
   🌺 Attend more markets in the Wellington region.
   
   🌺 Reach a wider audience via carefully selected retail partners (stay tuned on this one!)
   
   🌺 Amplify and collaborate with other Palestinian groups. (Shoutout to Preserved Identity, for example, which for years has promoted Palestinian culture in NZ)
   
   🌺 If you have any other ideas, we'd love to hear them!

 
Shukran 🇵🇸

Noor & Matt