Co-op to start stocking new beer by Palestinian brewery in the UK

Palestine's most prominent brewery is set to co-produce a new beer that will be stocked in 1,600 British Co-op supermarkets with proceeds going to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

Taybeh Brewery, based in the village of Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, will produce the Sun & Stone lager in collaboration with Scottish firm Brewgooder.

The beer will be brewed at zero profit in Scotland by Brewgooder and Madees Khoury, daughter of the current Taybeh Brewery brewmaster.

It can be bought from the Brewgooder website and will be stocked in Co-op stores from 10 September.

"Our collab beer is a crisp 4.5 percent Mediterranean-style lager brewed with German hops, a tribute to those often used in Taybeh beers," Brewgooder said in a statement on social media.

"100 percent of proceeds go to supporting communities in Palestine and providing humanitarian aid in Gaza and the Middle East through the Disasters Emergency Committee."

This comes after members of the Co-op voted to remove Israeli products from its shelves in May, over the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

In June, the supermarket also said it would stop sourcing goods from Israel, Iran, Russia and 14 other countries where it says there are "internationally recognised" human rights violations.

Struggling under settler attacks

Taybeh Brewing was founded by Nadim and David Khoury in 1994 with the approval of then Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

The brewery's beers have become symbolic for many Palestinians and their supporters of Palestinian entrepreneurship in the face of adversity.

Israeli settlers repeat attack on Palestinian Christian village in West Bank

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The brewery has struggled as the village has faced inceasing attacks by Israeli settlers since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

On 28 July, a group of settlers set fire to two cars owned by Palestinian residents and spray painted racist graffiti on walls in the village.

Once the settlers left, the Israeli military also raided the village, which is located near a new settlement that has been illegally constructed in the West Bank.

A fortnight earlier on 14 July, settlers also set the majority-Christian village’s historic Church of Saint George alight, along with its adjoining graveyard.

That attack was severe enough to prompt rare condemnation of Israeli settlers by the American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

'We’re still here, still making beer'

Speaking to the Press Association, Madees Khoury said they felt they had no choice but to keep going despite Israeli pressure.

“This is the worst the situation has been for decades,” she said.

“Recently settlers set two cars on fire and spray-painted threats in Hebrew. They tried to jump the wall into people’s homes. If the houses had been empty, they would have burned them.”

She told the news agengcy that the spring providing most of Tabyeh’s water had also been attacked by settlers “at least three times” last month, as well one of the main water pipelines.

“The water company in Palestine can’t go and fix those problems because Israeli settlers are residing at the spring and swimming in the water and just occupying the spring," she added.

“Things are getting worse, but we’re still here, still making beer. Because what else can we do but keep going?"

“Our brewery provides jobs and much-needed distraction. It tells a story - it shows a side of Palestine that people do not always see.”