Childrens’ Drawings Urge Peace in Palestine

Tucked in the far back of Holyoke Center hang 27 drawings created by Palestinian children depicting their thoughts on the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has claimed 1,400 lives in the 17-months of widespread bloodshed.

The colored-pencil drawings are part of a nationwide travelling exhibit which leaves Harvard today. Entitled “Innocence Under Fire,” the exhibit is sponsored by the Society of Arab Students (SAS) and is organized by the Chicago-based Palestinian arts council al-Phan.

“When asked how they saw the world around them, the children responded with these images,” reads the exhibit’s description and several individuals have been surprised by what these children have created.

“A lot of people are shocked by the bloodiness of it,” said Deema B. Arafah ’03, who arranged for the exhibit’s week-long stop at Harvard. “It’s disturbing, and it should be. These kids have seen a lot of bloodshed.”

Several of the drawings depict the death of Mohammad Al-Dura, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed while in his father’s arms in October 2000. His death brought international attention to children caught in the conflict.

Seventh-grader Salam Salem Salah drew a young dead girl with the Arabic inscription, “The child Sara Abd Al-Haqq, 18 months old, was killed by the hands of Israeli settlers, while in the arms of her father on Oct. 10, 2000.”

Several other drawings depict heavily armed Israeli soldiers attacking unarmed Palestinians with tanks, fighter jets and machine guns.

Arafah, who has previously worked with both Israeli and Palestinian children, said the children are simply drawing the world in which they live.

“The fear the children have comes from tanks, guns, soldiers and F-16s,” she said.

But the exhibit’s portrayal of the plight of Palestinian children has drawn criticism from those who feel the exhibit is too one-sided.

“The point of this exhibit is not to say that Palestinian children are suffering and Israeli children are not because Israeli children are suffering in deeply disturbing ways,” Arafah said. “The point is to reveal the often overlooked reality of life as a Palestinian child under Israeli occupation.”

Passers-by have also taken notice of the childrens’ depictions.

“I think it’s sad in the way children are being manipulated,” said Pat Brown, a docent with the Harvard University Art Museums. “It’s understandable, but it’s sad.”

When Yasmin K. Bin-Human ’03 forwarded an advertisement for the exhibit to the Eliot House e-mail list, several students turned the discussion from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s effect on children to the conflict itself.

More than 30 replies flooded the list in response to Bin-Human’s message. While some criticized the validity of accounts about the killing of Al-Dura, others asked for unbiased book recommendations on the Middle East conflict.

SAS Public Relations Officer Rita Hamad ’02, an Eliot House resident, said she received several e-mails in response to a message she posted on the list about the conflict.

“Most of the responses I got back were from people who wanted to now why I felt Palestinians were being oppressed,” Hamad said.

“I got about five or six personal responses. Some were out of curiosity. Some were hostile.”

In response to the e-mail discussion, Hamad and Arafah are organizing a dinner discussion in Eliot, where students will present various perspectives on the Middle East conflict.