(23 Jan 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip - 22 January 2024
1. Various of kids jumping, dancing during children’s activities event at al-Quds Open University
2. Mid of local resident Heba Abu Ghanim with her children
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Heba Abu Ghanim, local resident:
“My children used to hear about the Jews (the Israeli army), but they had never seen them. They’d never seen tanks in their lives. However, witnessing this and seeing it with their own eyes, the sight of blood and martyrs, was difficult for them. My son and daughter still bite their nails until now.“
4. Ghanim kissing her daughter
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Heba Abu Ghanim, local resident:
“They have started searching for games; they want to play, participate, and have fun. They go out to play and come back to sleep. Somewhat, they have started living their lives normally, and they want to adapt to the situation they are in. However, despite all of this, you find that children wish to return to their home. I tell you that, despite all of this, entertainment, this will not make them forget the reality they are living in for sure.“
6. Various of children watching animated film on a screen
++NIGHT SHOTS++
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khalil Qeshta, Sharek Youth Forum member:
“This initiative aims to alleviate psychological pressure and stress, as well as the feelings of fear and horror that exist within shelter centers. It comes to relieve them, involve them, and spread a sense of joy and happiness on the faces of their children - by offering some screenings of some films and cartoons. These screenings include themes which focus on cooperation, participation, and love, so that we can bring smiles to the faces of our children - who have been without television for over a hundred days.“
8. Mid of children during film screening
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khalil Qeshta, Sharek Youth Forum member:
“The numbers are very big; the number of children is significant. The number of children - watching this screening - within this center exceeds a thousand. We hope that this initiative - Cinema for Displaced People - continues with the same impact and that it positively affects our children and their families inside the shelter centers.“
10. Children watching film
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khalil Qeshta, Sharek Youth Forum member:
“All shelter centers will be doing similar screenings to ease psychological pressure on children and their parents.”
12. Children watching film
STORYLINE:
Hundreds of displaced Palestinian children in the southern Gaza city of Rafah enjoyed a rare moment of joy on Monday when a youth group visited a shelter centre to entertain them.
At al-Quds Open University, the Sharek Youth Forum, a local non-governmental organization, sang and danced with the children in the daylight before screening an animation film at dusk.
“This initiative aims to alleviate psychological pressure and stress, as well as the feelings of fear and horror that exist within shelter centers,” said Khalil Qeshta, an employee working with the group.
The group has been moving between shelters in the south of Gaza, offering a range of entertainment activities for young children, including circus and clown shows.
They began these workshops on the second day of the war.
Sharek is a youth focused Palestinian NGO active in both the West Bank and The Gaza Strip.
“We hope that this initiative - Cinema for Displaced People - continues with the same impact and that it positively affects our children and their families inside the shelter centers,“ Qeshta added.
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