"Art is the language of peace, love and life. Drawing and playing with children are the only tools of resistance I have to improve living conditions" Basel Elmaqosui of Palestine

 Resisting with the pencil: Art as a language of hope in the Gaza Strip

New Arab story by 

Giovanni Vigna  16 April, 2024

Basel Elmaqosui hopes to keep memories alive through drawing and teaching children art, as Israel's bombs continue to destroy dreams and reality in Gaza.

"I try to keep my humanity alive through drawing and teaching children," says Basel Elmaqosui, a Palestinian artist living in Gaza who has survived bombings.

"I search for stores that sell drawing materials," he explains. "I have managed to buy paper and charcoal pencils but cannot paint in colour: everything around me is black, frightening, terrifying and violent.

"This led me to depict scenes of everyday life with a charcoal pencil," Basel tells The New Arab. 

"Who will gather the pieces of a child who has lost his parents, of a man who has lost his wife or of a mother who has lost her children and her newborn? During the ethnic cleansing that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, I try to assemble the scattered fragments to create a clear and complete picture"

Fifty-three-year-old Basel lives in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, with his wife, five children and other relatives.

Leaving Gaza is very difficult and expensive. "The cost to organise the journey amounts to $10,000 per person," Basel reminds us.... READ MORE    https://www.newarab.com/features/resisting-pencil-art-language-hope-gaza

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

"Everything is fragmented — human beings, buildings, streets, trees, tents and even human rights. Life has become a collection of scattered fragments and shreds.

"Who will gather the pieces of a child who has lost his parents, of a man who has lost his wife or of a mother who has lost her children and her newborn? During the ethnic cleansing that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, I try to assemble the scattered fragments to create a clear and complete picture," Basel explains. 

Before the start of the war, Basel lived in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Strip. After October 7, his life, like that of thousands upon thousands of other Palestinians, became a continuous search for shelter, food and water.