Amid war, Gaza’s young artists turn trauma into art
Thousands of Palestinian children have lost relatives during Israel’s war on Gaza. Many others have suffered life-changing injuries since October 2023. Amid all the destruction, the entire generation is experiencing severe psychological trauma. Some have been turning to art as an outlet for their emotions.
Here is the story of 16-year-old Yara Youssef Abu Kweik:
Ms Rachel wears dress embroidered with Gaza children’s artwork at awards
Children’s educator and YouTuber Rachel Accurso, known online as Ms Rachel, appeared at Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards in New York wearing a gown embroidered with artwork made by children from Gaza.
The custom upcycled dress featured illustrations by displaced Palestinian children, each stitched with the artist’s name in Arabic. “I’m thinking about all the little ones there and what we can do for them,” she told red carpet hosts Brooks and Grace Ann Nader on Tuesday.
Ms Rachel, whose educational show recently became Netflix’s biggest children’s content launch, has often come under heavy scrutiny from pro-Israel supporters after she collaborated with Rahaf, a three-year-old double amputee from Gaza evacuated by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, to create new educational content.
Development must continue in Gaza despite blockade: NGO
Aziz Hafiz, chairman of the NGO Humanity First UK, has responded to concerns that development in Gaza is impossible without permanent peace and an end to the blockade.
Speaking at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar’s capital Doha, he acknowledged that “development cannot flourish in isolation from justice and peace” but stressed it does not mean “we wait for peace to act”.
“Humanitarian and development work must proceed in parallel, even within the current restrictions,” he told Al Jazeera, saying the frustration of those living under blockade “cannot be imagined”.
“Every vocational programme, school rehabilitation or psychosocial initiative becomes an act of resistance to despair,” Hafiz added, noting that while permanent peace in Gaza remains the “ultimate enabler of prosperity”, maintaining human dignity in the present moment is “equally critical”.
