Ruqaia Alulu, a Palestinian artist from Gaza, had a tough time finding art classes in her area back in 1993. After obtaining a permit from Israel, she studied photography at An-Najah University in Nablus. She got her master’s in Cairo and began teaching art. In December 2020, war forced her to flee her home in Bureij with her family and take refuge at a United Nations school for 60 days. When they returned, they found their apartment destroyed by an air strike. They now live in her late father's house, which lacks windows, doors, electricity, and water.
They struggled to make do by covering the windows and bullet holes with paper just to have a little privacy. Despite all the hardships, Alulu is determined to set up her studio again and get back to painting. She is passionate about showing the real Palestine and its wounds, but the war has left her barely able to eat. Most days, she only manages to eat half a loaf of bread. Drawing is a small comfort for her, though her art, which is filled with skulls and children missing eyes or limbs, is quite dark. She hopes to turn these drawings into paintings in the future. She mentions that all the colours seem buried under the rubble now, leaving her with none. Despite all the loss and suffering, Alulu is unwavering in her goal to share Palestine's story through her art.
"Untitled" Ruqaia Alulu, 2020
Saj Issa, is a multidisciplinary Arab-American artist who holds a master’s degree in fine arts from UCLA. Born in St.Louis, her complex childhood summers spent in Palestine are revealed via the utilization of Eastern architectural elements, tradition and iconism. Her art elucidates similarities between the East and the West. - https://www.instagram.com/saj_issa/?hl=en
"Food, medicine and hygiene for Gaza
100% donation policy
As families face daily bombardment, half of Gaza is starving, there is no safe place left, and people are at risk of multiple epidemics.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time…It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased” (Hadith Ibn Khuzaymah)"
"After months of intense hostilities in Gaza, tens of thousands of people have been killed, 70% of whom are women and children. Children have had to leave their homes, sometimes separated from their caregivers.
Despite the situation, we are in Gaza alongside our partners and local communities to deliver lifesaving supplies and services including:
medical care
nutrition support and lifesaving therapeutic food
clean water for drinking and sanitation
There are no safe spaces in Gaza."
In November 2023, I attended a Palestine rally during a Unison conference in Newcastle. The rally was attended by supporters waving green, red, white and black flags. We stood strong despite the harsh winter weather. The names of doctors and nurses were read out from an exhaustive list.
However, the protest was heckled by some British pub-goers who felt that this was "their country". One bald man forgot that this country belongs to all, including those who attended the rally.
Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and grandparents, will never have the opportunity to experience the luxuries of life ever again. We are fortunate to possess the ability to speak, imagine and act. In our society, it's crucial to challenge its values to continually evolve. Unfortunately, some don't have these luxuries and can't wake up to a new day, progress with their imagination, or hear laughter again. The world has lost over 34,000 Palestinians since the Genocide began in October 2023.
The U.K and USA, have been complicit in their hesitation and funding of weapons.
The world is not humane just because it is made by human beings, and it does not become humane just because the human voice sounds in it, but only when it has become the object of discourse. However much we are affected by the things of the world, however deeply they may stir and stimulate us, they become human for us only when we can discuss them with our fellows… We humanize what is going on in the world and in ourselves only by speaking of it, and in the course of speaking of it we learn to be human.