Why BØRN RZST Exists
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A personal introduction from founder Nasib Thabet
Image: Jerusalem’s Old City, 2018. Photograph by Beko, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.
I started BØRN RZST because I was tired of feeling helpless.
I am Palestinian. I was born in Jerusalem, raised in Palestine, and lived there. I have returned throughout my life. I know what it feels like to live under occupation and to be treated as a second-class citizen in your own homeland. Even my American citizenship has not erased that experience.
Watching the devastation in Gaza has been heartbreaking. I see families, homes, memories, and futures. I see people whose lives matter, including those whose names the world will never know.
I wanted to do something for my people. I wanted to contribute to humanity in whatever way I could.
BØRN RZST grew from that responsibility.
Through clothing and storytelling, I want to create opportunities for people to learn, express solidarity, and speak about what they believe. A design can catch someone’s attention. A question can become a conversation. That conversation can encourage someone to listen more closely and act with greater care.
My Palestinian heritage is the foundation of this work. My commitment to human dignity extends to people of every faith and background. Freedom, safety, and justice belong to all of us.
For me, this begins in Palestine. It extends to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and wherever people face persecution, displacement, and the denial of their basic rights. Each community has its own history and voices. We owe those voices our attention.
I know I am one small part of something much larger. Many have sacrificed far more than I have. I want to honor that sacrifice by making my own contribution count.
This is what I am building BØRN RZST to do: carry stories forward, encourage solidarity, and give people a way to express convictions they want to live by.
I began with a feeling of helplessness. I am choosing to answer it with work.
Nasib Thabet
Founder, BØRN RZST