In Gaza, children are enduring the psychological impact of the Israeli war. Some volunteers have started providing music lessons in an effort to help young Palestinians heal through sound.

Jerusalem

In Gaza, children displaced by ongoing conflict are participating in music therapy sessions organized by Ahmed Abu Amshaf and fellow musicians. These sessions, held in makeshift tents using borrowed instruments, aim to provide psychological relief and a sense of normalcy for children who have experienced repeated displacement and trauma.

The initiative is supported by the Edward Said Conservatory, which was destroyed in the conflict but continues its mission in new forms. For many children, the music lessons offer a brief escape from the surrounding violence, helping to protect their mental health and foster hope amid challenging circumstances.

Lessons offer some respite for traumatized children in Gaza

This is not just a tent, it's a space where exhausted children relearn how to breathe through rhythm and song. Their teacher, Ahmed, is a displaced father who uses the music as a form of therapy. Ahmed Abu Amshaf led Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza with his family. They've been displaced 12 times. Now he teaches the music to children who have lost everything. We are doing activity with the Edward Said Conservatory, spreading joy and love and happiness for the kids by music. We are using music therapy to heal the kids and to make them happy in this situation. Ahmed and three fellow musicians run these sessions for free. They use borrowed instruments, broken chairs, whatever they can find. They call it therapy through sound, a rare joy in a place drowning in grief. To have an instrument and to have the right people who can teach you about it and to have an environment such as this one where you get to come here. I have two lessons a week here, so a total of four hours. Every week I get four hours of absolute peace and serenity and that absolutely takes my mind off of everything else that's happening around us. We are trying to protect their mental health. The bombs never stop, but when they play music, they escape. Even for a moment, it brings calm. Before the war, Ahmed taught at Edward Said Conservatory. One of Gaza's main cultural centers now reduced to rubble. But the mission has survived. Now he teaches under canvas, beside rubble and a barred out. This tent is more than just shelter. For these children, music is therapy, a lifeline and a way to heal, to breathe and to escape the war, even if only for a moment. Before October 7th, Gaza had orchestras, choirs, music schools. Now only silence. Except here, in the middle of war and destruction, music is what remains. A sound of hope and rhythm and resilience.

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