Palestinian turns images of the Gaza conflict into works of art

Tawfik Gebreel is a Gaza resident, architect and artist; he and two other Palestinians gained fame by publishing montages of photos of the bombings. The three don't know each other

Amid shocking images of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas group in Gaza, Palestinian artists sought in art a way to convey a message about the experience of those caught in the crossfire. Since the beginning of the Israeli military operation, young people Tawfik Gebreel, Belal Khaled and Bushra Shanan have been reappropriating photographs of the bombings in Gaza, applying a drawing overlay technique to them.

What was once smoke and destruction turns into images of resistance to war. Despite using similar methods, the three young people do not know each other; Drawings began spontaneously and art took over the world. We spoke to one of them, Palestinian Tawfik Gebreel, who spoke about art, war and plans for the future.

The artist
Gabreel is an architect and artist, also beginning a career as a professor at the University of Palestine. The city is located in the Gaza Strip, the scene of Israeli bombings.

In less than three decades of life, Gabreel has already seen three wars in the region and also participated in the Second Intifada, a series of revolts promoted by the Palestinian people in 2000 against the Israeli administration in Palestine. In the most recent conflict, the artist wanted to convey his message about war and used the internet as an ally.

"On the first day of the war in Gaza I saw the smoke from Israeli bombings. So I decided to sketch some drawings to send a message to people around the world", said Tawfik, who reported hearing the sounds of explosions in several locations while the interview was taking place.

"It's a message of repudiation of war", added the artist, who had five friends injured in the recent attacks. Gebreel further stated that he likes to draw as a way of resisting what he classifies as "Israeli aggression".

On Tawfik's personal Facebook profile it is possible to follow messages of support sent from users from the most varied countries. "I hope this helps me take my message to the world", thanked the artist, who intends to participate in art exhibitions.

This news is related to 2014 when Israel attacked Gaza and now we don't know if this artist Tawfiq Jibril is alive or not?
Unfortunately, in recent weeks, more than 7,000 people have been martyrdom by Israel in Gaza, most of them children.