"The first time I heard a song by Saint Levant, only three years ago, was in a world that does not exist any more. Gaza’s buildings were intact, as were its schools and roads and markets and mosques. My home city of Khartoum in Sudan was standing, as it had for centuries. Back then, I could scroll for fun, not in dread. I could stumble, say, in late 2022, upon an arresting clip on TikTok of a song by an Arab artist with a pun for a name..." Nesrine Malik

Palestinian musician Saint Levant performing at Les Francofolies, Paris, July 2025.

Photograph: Sadaka Edmond/SIPA/Shutterstock

Saint Levant: the pop star from Gaza caught between passionate fandom and bitter disapproval

His detractors say he shouldn’t be making pop music in times of war and destruction. His millions of fans say he has given them permission to celebrate their culture and their cause

By Nesrine Malik

Tue 26 May 2026 00.00 EDT

The first time I heard a song by Saint Levant, only three years ago, was in a world that does not exist any more. Gaza’s buildings were intact, as were its schools and roads and markets and mosques. My home city of Khartoum in Sudan was standing, as it had for centuries. Back then, I could scroll for fun, not in dread. I could stumble, say, in late 2022, upon an arresting clip on TikTok of a song by an Arab artist with a pun for a name; Saint Levant, a play on Saint Laurent – the icon of western style had been Arabised in homage to the Middle East’s Levant region.

I began to see the same song all over my social media. In the video, Saint Levant, then 22, is in a white vest and brown trousers. A gold pendant chain dangles on his chest, a tattoo encircles his left arm. He starts by rapping in English, telling the woman he is wooing that “he’s not toxic, he’s broken baby”. And then, the twist, as he switches to Arabic, then French, then English again. Like a wholesome boy next door, he tells her to send his regards to her grandmother and her brother. Then says that he wants to make her forget about her ex, he wants her overthinking all her texts... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/may/26/saint-levant-the-pop-star-from-gaza-caught-between-passionate-fandom-and-bitter-disapproval

 [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] 

Gaza’s young artist turn war trauma into art- 16-year-old Yara Youssef Abu Kweik is pouring her emotions into her art. She narrates her story.

In two years of war, children in Gaza have endured unspeakable violence. Tens of thousands have lost parents and siblings to Israel's genocide. Many others have suffered life-changing injuries. They've also witnessed scenes no human should ever see—scenes like these. A whole generation in the Strip is living with severe psychological trauma. With few resources available to help them process their pain, young people are finding creative outlets for their grief. 16-year-old Yara Youssef Abu Kweik is pouring her emotions into her art...

Gaza’s journalists are talented, professional and dignified. That’s why Israel targets them- Nesrine Malik in The Guardian

A marcher holds a photo of slain Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, as pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City condemn the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, 16 August 2025. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Recent killings have dazed the world and provoked condemnation. But little is said about the calibre of Palestinian journalism

Nesrine Malik

Mon 18 Aug 2025 02.00 EDT

Last modified on Mon 18 Aug 2025 03.08 EDT

The first time I met Al Jazeera’s Gaza team lead, Tamer Almisshal, was in July last year. His team had already buried two journalists, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Samer Abu Daqqa. The rest, he told me, were hungry. They were also dealing with trying to get hold of protective gear, threats from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the killing of family members. Ismail al-Ghoul hadn’t seen his wife and child in months and was missing them intensely. Hossam Shabat, Mohammed Qraiqea and Anas al-Sharif were asking for time to secure food in the morning before they could start reporting. Today, they are all dead.

I spoke with various members of the Gaza team while writing a profile of Gaza’s veteran reporter Wael al-Dahdouh, who lost his wife, three of his children and grandson. All spoke of their work as a duty that needed to be carried out despite the risks. Three members of that team have since been killed in a chain of assassinations. Each time I sent condolences, the response was always that the coverage would not cease. “We are continuing,” the Gaza editor told me last week, after he lost his entire Gaza City team in the targeted strike that claimed the lives of Sharif, Mohammed Nofal, Ibrahim Thaher and Qraiqea. “We will not betray their message, or their last wishes.”

As these killings dazed the world – and the response to them became mired in unproven and in some cases risibly implausible claims that some of these journalists were militants – little has been said about the calibre of journalism in Gaza. How fluent, articulate and poised its journalists are under impossible circumstances. How much they manage to capture horrific events and pain on a daily basis, in a journalistic Arabic that they have perfected to an art, while maintaining a professional, collected presence on camera. How much they manage to keep their cool. I struggled often to translate their words into English, so rich and expansive is their expression. Even Sharif’s final message, a text for the ages, loses some of its power in translation. In it, he addresses those who “choked” our breath, but the word he uses is closer to “besieged” – evoking not just physical asphyxiation but the silencing of a surveilled people’s voice.

What strikes me when I speak with journalists in and from Gaza is how evangelical and heartbreakingly idealistic they are; how much journalism to them was a duty even if it meant certain death. All who have been killed had a choice... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/18/israel-gaza-war-journalist-killed-safety-al-jazeera

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

Growing Gardens for Palestine: The story of Randa Sedar, 8-year-old chess player from Palestine

 Growing Gardens for Palestine

The story of Randa Sedar, 8-year-old chess player from Palestine

Eight-year-old Randa Sedar has instantly earned global attention and fame. The young chess protege from Palestine is the youngest participant at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram near Chennai, India.

  

Eight-year-old Randa Sedar has instantly earned global attention and fame. The young chess protege from Palestine is the youngest participant at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram near Chennai, India

The story of Randa Sedar, 8-year-old chess player from Palestine

• August 10, 2022
• Sports, Top Stories
• by pallavvjain

"The 44th Chess Olympiad is going on in Mamallapuram near Chennai, India. This city is decorated with the slogans of Namma Chennai Namma chess. The center of attraction in all this is 8-year-old chess player Randa Sedar from Palestine. She is the youngest player in this Olympiad. At a young age, Sedar is adept at playing chess. It was not easy for her to come to India from war-torn Palestine. But she came to India and is winning everyone’s heart with her talent. 

Randa Sedar is ranked second in the world for players of her age. On the second day of the tournament, Randa Sedar defeated Fahima Ali of Comoros in 39 moves. Randa may be young but big players find it difficult to understand her moves. Her height is so small that it is difficult for her to reach the chess board placed on the table. She sits on the chair with her knees bent and then plays.

Who is Randa Sedar?

Randa hails from the Hebron province of Palestine. She comes from a chess-playing family. She started playing chess at the age of 5. Sedar was taught to play chess by her father and is her coach. Her elder brother also plays chess and he is a FIED master.

Randa Sedar won the silver medal at the Palestine Women’s Chess Championship earlier this year.

In a country like Palestine, where the war is going on, girls are coming out from there and making their country shine in the world. It is a matter of great pride.  "  https://groundreport.in/who-is-randa-sedar-chess-player-from-palestine/  AS Always please go to the original link to read the story in full.

 

Randa has participated in many tournaments. Her second place in the Palestine women's championship qualified her for the #ChessOlympiad team.