First, if you are among those who have followed along this shop’s journey for some time, thank you for your support over the years. Every purchase, follow, collaboration and countless other ways that you participated in this shop's journey meant a lot and lit a fire in me many times over.
Second, you may noticed, Olive & Heart is now a candle shop.
The products we once sourced from social enterprises can still be found on their home shops. The mission-driven brands we featured like Canaan and Sitti remain highly recommended favorites. Though this shop is now dedicated to home fragrance, we hope to include the above and other like-minded brands in new ways in the future. What remains is the same desire to provide thoughtfully made goods and offer gift options that offer meaning to you and to those you are gifting.
I don’t have the typical candlemaker’s story. I did not start off with a hobby that turned into a side hustle that turned into an e-commerce idea. I set out to create a product and brand that shares story and a sense of connection. And well, as they say "I like what I like" and wanted to offer what may not be readily available: products with clean, contemporary design that identify with Palestinian heritage as well as that bifurcated third culture experience.
So, I dove deep into researching and testing wax types and fragrance oils that would result in a premium candle at a reasonable price point. I know this is a saturated market, and yet the process of developing these candles has me so excited to finally share that I can't help but hang onto the idea "it's about the journey, not the destination." I invite you to follow along in that journey to discover new scents and make new connections together.
]]>Jaffa is a Palestinian village from which its namesake oranges famously originated. It also happens to be a port city that lives in the memories of Palestinians around the world in the same iconic way the image of the Hollywood sign is embedded in the minds of people everywhere regardless of whether they ever set foot in California. Though I've never been and though my own family's Silwani roots in East Jerusalem are well outside the seaside village, the mere mention of Jaffa conjures visually stunning coastal blues lined with adobe stone style homes of the centuries old city.
Countless illustrations date back to the 19th century, followed later by photographs, conveying Palestine’s rich agricultural legacy. The once globally recognized Jaffa Oranges thrived as a Palestinian brand and export that bolstered Palestine's agricultural industry only to be met by its cultural and economic decline leading up to the Nakba.
The rise of the industrial revolution coincided with the cultivation of the new citrus variety being cultivated by Arab farmers in Palestine, allowing for the crop's rapid expansion. Jaffa Orange exports from Palestine grew from 200,000 to 38 million between 1845 and 1870, a significant acceleration in volume and area expansion of their orange groves. The labor intensive endeavor was sustained by farmers with a firsthand understanding and knowledge of the land to grow the fruit coveted for uniquely having few seeds and a tough skin, ideal for exporting. This single export coupled with Raed's photography not only debunked fictional suggestions of a "land without a people", but it connected the world to a bustling life and provided insight into a thriving economy.