Palestinian ambassador urges London hospital to reinstate Gazan children’s art exhibition

Hospital’s decision to remove artwork follows pressure from campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel

Husam Zomlot said the hospital had caved in to 'racist and discriminatory bullying that completely ignores the realities on the ground as well as international law'. Gustavo Valiente for The National

The head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK has expressed “profound dismay” after artwork by Gazan schoolchildren was removed from the entrance to the children’s outpatient department at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

The artwork displayed in the hospital was the work of pupils at two UN Relief and Works Agency schools.

The decision to remove the artwork came following pressure from interest group UK Lawyers for Israel.

In a letter to Lesley Watts CBE, chief executive of the Chelsea and Westminster Trust, Husam Zomlot said the hospital had caved in to “racist and discriminatory bullying that completely ignores the realities on the ground as well as international law”.

Among UKLFI’s complaints was that one painting showed a Palestinian flag flying above Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

Gaza children breakdance to relieve stress — in pictures

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  A Palestinian boy performs a breakdancing routine on the streets of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. All photos: Reuters

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  Breakdancing was once condemned by some locals as immoral but is now seen as a way of helping youngsters handle years of war and trauma.

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  Gaza coach Ahmed Al Ghraiz uses dance as therapy to help children cope with fears and release tension.

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  People in the camp initially rejected the hip-hop dance style, until Mr Al Ghraiz showed how it could bring out some of the day-to-day problems experienced by their children and help them process their experiences.

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  Dance is used around the world as therapy alongside traditional counselling and other rehabilitation efforts to ease anxiety, depression, anger and post-traumatic stress.

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  "We get afraid, we stay at home and we fear the noises from the drones and wars," said Jana Al Shafe, 11. "Our mental health changed with breakdance. We get entertained when we come here and play with our friends and change our mood."

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  Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, says nearly 500,000 children in Gaza need psychological care.

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  Children make up about half of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinian population.

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  Breakdancing, generally believed to have emerged among black and Latino dancers in New York in the 1970s, became a worldwide phenomenon with the rise of hip-hop culture.

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  The acrobatic dance style will be included for the first time as a sport in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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  A Palestinian boy participates in a breakdance performance on a street in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

“We have found no basis for their claims that these paintings violate any law or could reasonably provoke Jewish patients who felt 'vulnerable or victimised' by the paintings, as claimed by the UKLFI,” Mr Zomlot said.

“That complaint flies in the face of international law.

“Al Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, an occupied Palestinian area and the future capital of the state of Palestine as per international resolutions.”

Scars of war wound Gazan children — in pictures

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  A young Palestinian girl weeps during the funeral of Muhmmad Salman in the Beit Lahiya neighborhood of the Gaza strip November 16,2012. Palestinian sources claim Salman was killed in a IDF airstrike that struck the yard of the family's home . (Photo by Heidi Levine/Sipa Press for The National)

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  A cement slab is placed over the grave of Palestinian child Mohamed Hijazi, grave at the cemetery in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. He was named after the family's son Mohamed who was killed in 2008 in the Israel Gaza war in an attack nearby his home by an Israeli ???

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  The bodies of Palestinian children Suhaib HIhazi, 2 and Mohamed, 4, are carried by family members during their funeral procession in Beit Lahiya. An explosive device hit the family's home seriously wounding the mother and killing the father and two childr???

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  Wounded children of the Hijazi family at relatives home in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. Noor lays in a bed with a broken back surrounded by her brothers. Photos by Heidi Levine / Sipa Press for The National

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  Nader Basioni walks with his crutches with his father Achmed outside their home in the northern Gazan town of Beit Hanoun. After an Israeli airstrike slammed into a nearby field on November 15, his nightmares replay in graphic detail how a fleck of metal ???

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  Palestinian Mustafa Hijaza,20, at the scene of his family's destroyed home in Beit Lahiya , Gaza November 23,2012 . Mustafa was wounded by shrapnel when an Israeli shell hit the home killing two of his brothers and his father. Photos by Heidi Levine / Si???

The ambassador also responded to the UKLFI’s claim that “it is offensive for Jewish people to see a Palestinian flag over their holiest site”, saying it “is an affront to us as Palestinians and to Muslims around the world for whom Al Aqsa is the third holiest site and the first direction of prayer”.

Mr Zomlot went on to stress the plight of Palestinian children, saying “almost a million in Gaza have endured a 15-year Israeli blockade that has starved the impoverished Gaza Strip of everything from medicines to building materials”.

Actor entertains kids in Gaza with Ali Baba story — in pictures

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  Palestinian Mohammed Al Amodi, dressed in Ali Baba costume, sings and dances to entertain children in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. All photos: Reuters

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  Inspired by his grandfather who used to tell him stories when he was a child, Mr Al Amodi, 30, made the art his profession

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  'I, as a storyteller, tell a story so that children would live (during the story) in a free and a safe atmosphere, to enable them to express themselves and listen to nice stories', Mr Al Amodi says

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  'We reflect on many experiences through storytelling. They (the children) live with the hero and the character's hard times in the story. The child experiences happy endings,' he says

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  'Also, you know that the (Gaza) strip is experiencing difficult conditions. So, the story is a balm for their souls', adds Mr Al Amodi

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  He tells stories from around the world to raise awareness and hopes that one day, he will be able to tell the story of Palestinians’ struggle

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  Children are regaled with Mr Al Amodi's stories

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  Al Amodi during a storytelling session

He notes Save the Children recently reported that 80 per cent of children in the Gaza Strip suffer from mental health problems directly attributed to Israel’s blockade.

In his letter, Mr Zomlot concluded by asking for the exhibition to be reinstated, saying he has “faith in your first instinct to support these traumatised children”.

Mr Zomlot urged the trust to continue to do this in “future for all children traumatised by oppression”.