Gaza children find solace in art amid ongoing war
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- Maryam, a 16-year-old whose family home was bombed in January 2024, draws at a beach café art space in Deir el-Balah to process grief over her uncle and friends killed in Israeli strikes
- Abdullah al-Ghafri, 35, opened the art space in April 2025 after most educational and cultural centers in Gaza were destroyed, and is searching for investors to cover expensive rental costs
- Psychologist Asil Abu Shawish says art gives war-traumatized children a sense of control and emotional release, noting children who cannot verbalize fear or grief can express it through drawing or music
- Edward Said National Conservatory of Music runs sessions in Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah, and Gaza City after its Gaza City location was damaged during the war
- Jabr Thabet, projects coordinator at the Conservatory's Gaza branch, says music gives children "a normal moment" amid destruction and calls art "a form of resilience"
- Israel's war has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians since October 2023, with the art and music programs continuing despite an official October "ceasefire"
Why it matters: These programs are improvised responses to destroyed infrastructure — al-Ghafri's beach café studio depends on investors he is still searching for, and the Edward Said Conservatory relocated to displacement camps after its building was damaged. For Gaza's children, access to any psychological support rests on individual initiative rather than institutional backing.
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