Palestinian children use art to cope with checkpoints and settler raids
In Hebron’s Wadi Al-Samen quarter, a home-based art centre lets children draw their experiences of military raids and settler violence.
Sarah Abu Madi transformed her house on the outskirts of Hebron into the Rommana art centre in 2020, offering children a place to process the trauma of Israeli military raids and settler incursions. Situated in the checkpoint-isolated Wadi Al-Samen quarter, the studio asks participants how incidents make them feel and what they wish for, prompting drawings such as birds escaping a cage and a winged horse. Around 600 children currently attend, and Abu Madi hopes to expand the program to all 3,000 local youths.
The centre’s murals and student artwork have already been shown in Canada, with a Mexican exhibition planned. The initiative reflects growing tension as settlement expansion accelerates under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Why it matters
It shows how art helps children in occupied territories cope with daily violence and restrictions.
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