Gaza children learn music in tents to escape the noise of war

Inside the tents, children and young people gather around their teachers, learning to play the oud, guitar, and violin, while others chant the song “Peace for Gaza, Peace” in an attempt to regain a space of life, amidst destruction, displacement, and fear.

Those in charge of the institute say that the war destroyed the classrooms and musical instruments at its headquarters in Gaza City, which prompted them to resume work in shelter centers and gathering points for displaced people, including the Nuseirat camp, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City.

War destroys musical instruments

Fouad Khader, music teacher and activities coordinator at the Edward Said Institute of Music in Gaza, said that the continuation of the program came amid severe challenges, most notably repeated displacement and the lack of musical instruments.

Khader added: “We face many challenges while implementing these events, programs and activities. The most prominent of these challenges is the large amount of displacement that we have experienced in the northern Gaza Strip. I, personally, as a musician and music teacher, have been displaced more than 25 times, and this has greatly affected the music program.”

He continued that the displacement was not limited to teachers, but also included coaches and students, which led to the dispersion of the music program and the difficulty of regular communication with students.

And he said: “When conditions are available, we try to return, collect our belongings, and communicate with the students. Another of the most prominent challenges is the severe shortage of musical instruments, especially after the destruction of the main institute in Gaza City, as all musical instruments were destroyed.”

According to the institute, the damage was not limited to the institution’s instruments, as a number of artists and teachers lost their own instruments during the war. The institute was forced to search for available machines within the sector, either by purchasing them, re-maintaining what could be repaired, or borrowing what could be used.

A haven from the atmosphere of war

While the children sit to receive their lessons, student Hanan Ghazal says that music has become a refuge for her from the atmosphere of war and insecurity.

Hanan said: “In order to get out of the atmosphere of war and the feeling of insecurity that we were living in, I resorted to learning music to be my refuge amidst all this destruction.”

She added that she wanted to develop her skills in an environment that was almost devoid of suitable places for learning, saying: “There are no suitable places here in Gaza for me to learn new things and develop my skills, so I turned to music, and it was a very beautiful decision.”

Simple wishes

Student Zeina Saad El-Din says that what children in Gaza are asking for does not exceed their right to a normal and safe life.

added: “We hope to live like the rest of the world, to live in safety, and for the siege to be lifted. I am afraid when I go out to school that my family at home will be bombed, or that something will happen to me while I am at school. I just hope that we live like any child in the world.”

In November 2025, the Institute reopened the music and choir training program in northern Gaza, welcoming a new batch of participating students. The Institute’s Gaza branch also won the 2025 International Music Council Award for its project “Gaza Sings.”

The Edward Said Institute of Music, through its professors, trainees and students, continues to provide lessons for choirs, choirs and musical instruments, in cooperation with cultural and educational centers in Gaza, in an attempt to expand its activities within shelter centers and gathering points for displaced people.

Between the tents and the intermittent sounds of the exhausted city, the children try to maintain what remains of a different daily rhythm; Rhythm does not eliminate war, but it gives them a little space to learn, sing, and wait for a safer life.