Writers, artists, scientists: Gaza mourns its cultural losses
The Gaza Health Ministry announced this week that the number of Palestinians killed by Israel’s offensive in Gaza surpassed 25,000.
But there is a hidden, second toll: the writers, historians, artists, scientists, and university professors whose deaths have left a gaping hole in Gaza’s social fabric and in the hearts of people touched and inspired by them.
It is a loss, they say, that Palestinian society will feel for generations to come.
Colleagues still mourn Muhammed Sami Qraiqea, a 24-year-old visual and digital artist who devoted his life to using art and technology to chronicle Palestinians’ plight and brighten the lives of young Gaza residents.
As a volunteer with the Tamer Institute for Community Education, Mr. Qraiqea went to classrooms and hospital rooms teaching children arts, crafts, and theater.
He spent his last days and hours using art to alleviate the psychological stress of children and families seeking refuge in the al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, which was struck Oct. 17 by ordnance whose origin is disputed but believed by experts to have been a misfired Islamic jihad rocket.
That day Mr. Qraiqea had gathered evacuee children, formed a circle, encouraged them to express their fears, listened to them, and played with them, according to the Tamer Institute.
Shortly after, he was killed in the explosion, along with more than 200 others.
Marking his death, the Tamer Institute commended his commitment to the “resilience of humanity amidst the ruins” while “holding tightly to his cherished hopes of breaking the cycle of love and death and ending the siege and recurring atrocities.”
Fellow artist and photographer Rehaf Batniji, who trained Mr. Qraiqea in graphic art, describes him as having been “authentic” and “expressive.”
“I witnessed firsthand the remarkable creativity and resilience he possessed in the face of numerous challenges,” Ms. Batniji says. “Sometimes he would just zone out and then come up with the most wonderful ideas.”
Hiba Abu Nada, a poet who wrote an award-winning novel, dealt with the issues of justice, Palestinian reality under occupation, and the Arab Spring. She was killed Oct. 20 when an Israeli missile hit her aunt’s home in Gaza City.
In one of her final poems, “I Grant You Refuge,” written Oct. 10 amid missile strikes, she wrote:
I grant you refuge in knowing
That the dust will clear,
And they who fell in love and died together
Will one day laugh.