Name: Palestinian storytellers bring joy to Gazas children amid war
Uploaded: 2023-12-20T14:36:18.852Z
Duration: 2 min 22 s
Description: Hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are experiencing psychological trauma as a result of Israeli attacks. To ease their suffering, a group of traditional Palestinian storytellers has organized musical entertainment for young people at a school in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are experiencing psychological trauma as a result of Israeli attacks. To ease their suffering, a group of traditional Palestinian storytellers has organized musical entertainment for young people at a school in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. 

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The U.S-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza is holding, after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages.

Middle East Conflict

Palestinian storytellers bring joy to Gaza's children amid war

These children have witnessed some of the most brutal attacks in a century. Many of them have lost friends and loved ones. But they are trying hard to hold on to life. Palestinian traditional storytellers, known as al-Hakawati, are coming together to ease their suffering and give children a chance to be happy, which is extremely rare but desperately needed nowadays. We provide entertainment and psychological support to displaced people in UN-affiliated shelters. We try to convey our message to children in a simple and entertaining way, using stories, particularly traditional ones. We use entertainment to distract them from the hardships in Gaza. This performance is being staged at a UN-linked school in Khan Yunus, which has become home to thousands of displaced Palestinian families. Organizers say adults are struggling to cope during the war, but children are especially vulnerable. Fear has gripped the children's soul, and they're scared of everything. For example, the microphone fell from my grasp and made a loud noise, causing all the children to panic and thinking it was the sound of bombing. Israeli attacks have killed and injured thousands of children. UN says 1.2 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in its facilities across the Gaza Strip. Schools have been destroyed and education disrupted. They crave activities that bring them joy, taking them away from the stresses of the war and into a world of entertainment, which is so different from their actual experiences under Israeli bombing. Al-Hakawati storytellers, dressed in traditional Palestinian clothing, say they hope to remind children about what their grandparents wore, and evoke feelings of nostalgia and happiness, if not peace. Rasul Sardar, Al Jazeera.

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