From spoken word to paintings, the arts have always played a significant role in civil rights movements. Today the Radiant Trust is teaming up with We Are Not Numbers to support young Palestinian art and writing.
We live in a world where personal and artistic expression can have the power to heal as well as to change lives and influence current affairs.
This project allows the world to have direct access to the Palestinian narrative without any restrictions and without foreign intermediaries speaking for Palestinians.
The Gaza-based group We Are Not Numbers brings together developing writers from Gaza and the refugee camps of Lebanon with authors/mentors around the world. The result is poetry, art, stories, and short films that represent what is in the hearts, minds and dreams of young Palestinians.
We Are Not Numbers needs your support to survive and grow. The Radiant Trust proudly supports their initiative in this space and it is why we are assisting in a humble fundraising appeal of £30,000.
Why it’s important
We chose to support this project because young people in Gaza are often overlooked, and most aid goes to women and children.
Seeking work and hoping – even under Israeli bombs – for a bright future, these young people fork out what little they have, to attend university, only to graduate to find that unemployment is over 60 percent – and they have become another Gaza statistic.
Many young people are faced with the choice to stay in Gaza and face death and poverty at every turn, board a dangerous smuggler boat to Europe, or join the armed resistance.
Into this, steps We Are Not Numbers.
How it works
We Are Not Numbers pairs journalists, book authors, communications professionals and bloggers from English-speaking countries around the world with young creative Palestinians.
Mentors include Susan Abulhawa (author of “Mornings in Jenin”), Leila El-Haddad (author of “Gaza Kitchen”), Miko Peled (author of “The General’s Son”) and Alice Rothchild (physician and author of “Broken Promises, Broken Dream”), journalist Ben Norton (Salon) and the comedians Amer Zahr (author of “Being Palestinian Makes Me Smile”).
Working one-on-one via Skype, Facebook and email with their mentors, and with each other in Gaza, these young writers, poets and artists are able to refine and shape their work to feature on the We Are Not Numbers website and elsewhere, including the Huffington Post.
The project is not even two years old, but it supports almost 100 writers and has recruited an equal number of mentors.
Now, We Are Not Numbers needs support to maintain this work for the next year and to expand.
Their aim is to create a new generation of Palestinian writers, artists and thinkers who can bring profound change by the power of their stories, with nothing standing in the way.
Please give generously.
