In Gaza, Janna paints hope on the wall of her destroyed house

Our correspondent in Gaza visited Jannah and spoke to her about her hopes and the challenges she faces in order to return to painting.

The young woman, Janna, used her brush and available colors to draw details from the daily life that the war imposed on the residents of the Gaza Strip, including a clay cooking oven and a bag of food aid, along with symbols indicating the journey of displacement and life in a tent.

Jannah says that the return to drawing came after a break imposed by war conditions, adding: “I had the energy and passion to go back and paint again. I started drawing and I loved to express the suffering we were experiencing during the war, especially since I lost my father in previous wars on Gaza, and this affected us greatly.”

While Jannah was completing her painting on the remaining wall. At the bottom of the painting I wrote the phrase: “Hope remains,” in an attempt to transform the destroyed wall into a space expressing the experience of displacement.

Jannah says that the war not only destroyed homes, but also disrupted the course of education and affected the future of young people. She added: “The war destroyed our dreams and our future. There are no longer universities, no study or education, and we cannot even provide drawing tools, despite the talent we have and want to deliver to the world. This is one of the most difficult circumstances we live in.”

A reflection of the plight of the people of Gaza

The painting reflects the lives of thousands of families who lost their homes and were forced to live in tents, amid a shortage of basic necessities of life and increasing dependence on food aid.

Jannah says that her message is not limited to displaying suffering, but is also about displaying the talent that still exists in Gaza despite the war. She added: “Today, in my painting, I am talking about hope, and that we still have hope despite the circumstances in which we live. The times of war and tents in which we live are difficult for us, and I say that we still have hope. My message to the world is that in Gaza there are talents, and we have creative energies that we must show to you.”

Jannah finished her painting by placing her signature on the wall, in a house of which only a few parts remain, and wild flowers and herbs have grown among its rubble. But she says that drawing gives her a space to express what people are going through, and to confirm that life in Gaza has not stopped despite the destruction.