Embroidered Hamsa Wall Hanging

The Haneen Project is an initiative established in 2007 in Balata refugee camp in the Nablus area in the northern West Bank, as a result of Sunbula’s product development training activities. A group of women who received the training formed an independent income-generating project in order to utilize their newly-acquired skills for handicraft production. Haneen means 'longing' in Arabic, and it symbolizes the refugees' longing for their ancestral homeland and cultural heritage.

Balata is the largest of the 19 Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank. The camp’s 22,000 inhabitants suffer from overcrowded living conditions, poor infrastructure, poverty, and conflict-related violence. Haneen Project is a response to meet the economic needs of families, who strive to put food on the table, educate their children, and care for their sick and elderly. Haneen's products boast distinct beauty.

Their skilled embroiderers stitch with wide ranging techniques in addition to the common cross-stitching, and use unique regional and local materials, such as Syrian satin or leather from Heborn, in their designs.