Summary:
The SOUK Seattle fall charity pop-up market, featuring 35 local Arab businesses, was held on November 16th to raise money for humanitarian causes in the Middle East. The event, which was inspired by the traditional souk's role as a gathering place for merchants, offered a range of products including Palestinian spices, jewelry, henna, books, and handmade crafts. Many vendors, including second-generation Palestinian-American Waleed Asadi, founder of Zawi, donated their proceeds to causes supporting the Palestinian community. The market provided a platform for vendors to connect people with Palestinian culture in a visible and accessible way.
By Ayeda Masood
Waleed Asadi stands behind his booth, Zawi, selling an assortment of Palestinian spice blends. Customers walking by lean in to inhale the unique scents. Asadi, a second-generation
Palestinian-American, founded Zawi a year ago, and was inspired by the Gazan flavors of his mother’s cooking and a desire to preserve the tastes of home.
This booth is one of the 35 lining the room for the SOUK Seattle fall charity pop-up market on Sunday, Nov. 16. The market brings together local Arab businesses selling everything from watercolor paintings and Palestinian spices to jewelry, henna, books and handmade crafts to raise money for humanitarian causes in the Middle East. Hosted at the 101 in Pioneer Square, the market invites people throughout Seattle to engage with Arab culture.
“The Souk is the beating heart of ancient Arab cities; a space for cultural life and social connections,” organizers explain on the event page. On Nov. 16, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., that heartbeat pulsed through Seattle’s Pioneer Square.
The previous SOUK Seattle event drew over 1,700 attendees and raised more than $10,000 for charitable causes.
Asadi’s parents left for the United States in the 1980s; his father is from Safad in Northern Palestine and his mother is from Gaza. Growing up, food and community were ways Asadi’s family could connect to their roots and preserve Palestinian culture.
What started as TikTok cooking videos on his Tiktok account, @waleedasadi, showcasing those family recipes, blossomed into a thriving business after viewers kept asking about the spices Asadi used.
“It gave me the idea that I should encourage people to see what it is,” Asadi said.
For Asadi, the market represented more than a business opportunity. He is donating his proceeds to Heal Palestine, a cause deeply personal to him given his family’s connection to Gaza.
“It’s very close to my heart, my family,” Asadi said. “That’s also what drew me into doing the SOUK market, they’re supporting these causes.”
Nearby, Mila, a Palestinian herbalist, was offering teas and products inspired by her heritage through Sumoud Kitchen. She did not feel comfortable sharing her last name. She began creating Palestinian-inspired gifts for friends, putting her own twist on traditional herbal knowledge, but shifted her focus to fundraising after the current conflict in Gaza.
“Nothing is a business or brand, it’s more just, like for fun,” Mila said. “But it’s been a really great way for me to work with my traditional herb knowledge and learn more about the Palestinian land.”
Mila is raising money for 42 families in Gaza, including Abdul Rohan, a young journalist from Gaza who evacuated to Ireland and is now studying there.
“It’s just nice to be in a space where it feels like everyone gets it, even if people are doing different things and having different experiences,” Mila said. “There’s people from all kinds of affinity communities selling and sharing here. So that’s really sweet.”
A few booths down, Lana Daoud was arranging hand-poured candles at her Olive & Heart display. Each candle scent is inspired by the scents of Palestinian culture and shared experiences across the Middle East and North Africa region, which she grew up with as a Palestinian American.
Daoud donates 10 percent of all her sales to CARE, a humanitarian relief organization focusing on fighting poverty and social justice primarily in the Middle East and in Africa, and sometimes contributes to other Middle Eastern relief organizations depending on their current needs.
For Daoud, the market provides a rare opportunity to connect people with Palestinian culture in a visible, accessible way.
“This is very specific to Palestinians,” Daoud said. “It’s not something you just typically get in front of people. It’s not just meaningful, it’s important.”
Among the diverse vendors is Billie Swift, owner of Open Books, A Poem Emporium, a poetry bookstore located a few blocks away at 108 Cherry Street in Pioneer Square. Swift is donating all profits from books sold at the market to The Sameer Project’s Mass Displacement Response Campaign through Workshops 4 Gaza, an initiative where writers, artists, educators, and translators offer online classes to raise funds for Palestinians in Gaza.
This is Swift’s second time participating in SOUK Seattle.
“It’s wonderful,” Swift said. “The people who put this together are so incredible. And the whole community involved, all of the people near the tables are just, it’s so lovely, really amazing.”
Sofia Khan, a Seattle native browsing the booths, echoes that sentiment.
“It definitely feels like more than just a market, it feels like a real community gathering,” Khan said. “Everyone is here to support various organizations from the Middle East, and it’s so nice to see everyone come together because of that.”
“You can see that the artists put so much care into their work,” Khan said. “Every item here carries a bit of someone’s story and heritage.”
The market’s offerings spanned from aromatic spices and herbal teas to Palestinian-inspired candles labeled in Arabic, tranquil artwork, handmade jewelry, and poetry books, reflecting both the diversity of Seattle’s creative community and the traditional souk’s role as a gathering place for varied merchants.
Beyond the shopping, the market offered cultural experiences including live henna designs and DJ performances. The free, family-friendly event encouraged mask-wearing and provided wheelchair accessibility at the venue.
The Arabic phrase at the end of SOUK promotional materials—”لنجتمع قريبا” (let’s gather soon), captured the spirit vendors and attendees describe: a space where diverse communities gather, share their unique stories, and support causes close to their hearts and homelands. For many vendors, the market offered a platform to make Palestinian and Arabic culture visible and accessible in ways that everyday retail spaces rarely provide.