The children of Gaza know too well that fears cut deeper than swords. They are therefore not afraid of the Israel’s killing machines anymore. That the residents of Gaza are more than brave is a fact that has found its best expression from an art exhibition titled “Despite pain, a smile for hope” organised by Khan Younis’ Psychosocial Support team.

According to media reports, the event was held on the rubble of a bombed house where displaced children who have so far survived the incessant Israeli bombing expressed their horrendous experiences through drawings. Mother Teresa had famously said that “peace begins with a smile”; the art exhibition was very much in that direction.

Needless to say, the Israeli strategy in relation to Gaza is strongly characterized by nauseating shamefulness and woeful violence.

What could be more profound than this event of children in Gaza where thousands of children have already lost their siblings, parents, grand-parents, and other relatives along with neighbours due to growing belligerence of Israel that manifests itself in the massacre of civilians, including women and children, and destruction of more and more houses on a daily basis. Unfortunately, however, the US-led West in particular seems to have turned a blind eye to death and destruction in Gaza.

There is no doubt about the fact that the Palestinians are in a state of wretchedness, misfortune, poverty, and trouble. We all know that in the face of tragedy it is important to look for hope.

The Gazan children’s smile says it all. Whatever is happening in Gaza at the hands of the Zionist state is an ignominious defeat for humanity or the mankind.

Moreover, it’s worse than any scene of medieval barbarity. The artworks at the bombed and bruised Khan Younis neighbourhood of the Gaza City clearly show as if the message of pain is being delivered in a universal language.

Abu Adnan (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023