One Hundred Ways for Peace from Palestine

One Hundred Ways for Peace from PalestineBy Samih Abu ZakiehLes éditions de la Pleine Lune, Quebec, Canada, 2007, 208 pages, $20The dove of peace - a worldwide symbol first made famous by Pablo Picasso - has passed into the capable hands of Samih Abu Zakieh, an artist and teacher who keeps hope alive in hell. Director of the Palestinian Child Arts Centre in Hebron for 15 years, Abu Zakieh is one of the rare community movers who meets the stringent standard for pacifism set out by Mahatma Gandhi: “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”That is a tough sell on the ground in occupied Palestine, where Abu Zakieh was born and grew up, whipsawed by the deafening clamour of tanks and bulldozers which enclosed the street where he lived under curfew. He imploded and flew inside out on the wings of a dove, which he began drawing. Followed by another, and others, sometimes twos and threes. Doves swirling tapestries of local and universal reference. And for the children he worked with, the doves also became engines of empowerment.Now a tri-lingual book brings together Abu Zakieh’s drawings and his words: De Palestine, cent chemins pour la paix / One Hundred Ways for Peace from Palestine, published in Canada by Les éditions de la Pleine Lune. His commentary - presented in Arabic, French and English - grows out of long-time research into children’s reactions to war. Abu Zakieh is the author of numerous articles on the artistic expression of children in times of war. He regularly gives lectures on art, education and the rights of Palestinian children, at international conferences in Turkey, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Iraq, the United States, Jordan and Egypt.The tone is low key, whether matter-of-factly itemizing brutality under the occupation, or affirming the priority of self-restraint: “Just to control yourself when encountering violence in these most difficult conditions is a victory, but to spread a smile across the lips of the children who are our future-builders is an even greater victory.” Its engaging images and bracing discourse make this book a gem for any bookshelf, and an inspiring gift to give, and a breath of fresh air towards a self-fulfilling prophecy.(Courtesy of the publisher)

"Children in Palestine, dream of Peace& Freedom"

"Children in Palestine, dream of Peace& Freedom"

When media talk about Palestine and the dramatically situation who lives the country always forget children, the daily life, their daily life under occupation… They are an ordinary kids, with ordinary dreams who just wants to live their childhood in a peaceful environment.
But, even in the worst situation, you'll find someone trying to draw a smile on the children's faces. Samih Abu Zakieh, a Palestinian artist, is a good example of this. His heart is full of love ready to help children, to support them. This passion, the same he uses for his paintings, helps children of Hebron to develop themselves in such a dramatic situation.

In 1994, after the Massacre of the Abraham Mosque in Hebron where 36 inhabitants were killed by a settler, Samih, with some of his colleagues, decided to do an artistic workshop. With this workshop they pretended to let children draw and play to relief the effect of the violent shock they had after the brutal massacre.
He would never imagine the effect of this tragedy in the children before see their drawings, which were just in two colors, red and black. The use of these colors was a clear sign of the massacre's effect on children. The black color expresses the sadness while red expresses the blood which filled the streets of that area, especially inside the great Islamic mosque.

From the suffering to the creativity

After this impacting experience Samih and his colleagues Fayez, Ayda, Diyab, Na'ila, Samia and many others were ready for the next step, establish a organization for children , where Art and Children were the priorities, trying to relief the impact . There, they could also play, dance, sing, smile, and learn. This was the first purpose of the PCAC, Palestinian Child Arts Centre.
Step by step, from the simple and humble work, PCAC has developed to an organization which organized their work to develop the children's skills and capabilities. Ceremonies, festivals, art workshops, art exhibitions are a good example of this change.
Child's Rights has a special importance in this center, during over past years they try to let know children and society everything about this convention, always through arts.





Future of PCAC

Its well knows this center all over Palestine but not only here has been recognized the work of Palestinian Child Arts Center. The center has achieved compliments from all over the world. As Samih says" we are poor, we don't have the money, but we have the thoughts and creativity ".

When they started working for the Arts Olympiad 2007, they faced many problems. The most important and struggle one was/is the economic crisis who is living the country and the impossibility to leave or move inside the country. "We are not able to leave the city whenever we want, but in fact we live as we're inside a cage. They open the doors for us whenever they desire". That situation doesn't help to the appropriate develop of the center programs and desires.
They can't and they don't forget the main aim of this center, children, even the situation seems impossible. The risk of murder, siege, eviction or home demolishing is there, and those children can just think about how to survive, not about fun activities.
The drawings of the Olympiad are full of suffering. When they were asked about the topic, Art & Sport, and about the relation of those topics with children, it was amazing their answers." Palestinian sport is in danger, we as children are not able even to play. Look at our drawings to see the tragedy we live in".

But there is a little ray of hope, even the political/economical situation is getting worst in the last days, PCAC and Samih will continue the work that started 12 years ago. Never give up, children are the future of Palestine, the political actors of tomorrow, and not just PCAC, all the society must works for them.