With the ongoing war in the backdrop, a Gazan teenage boy attempts to spend his days of self-imprisonment in Jabalia concentration camp as cheerfully as he could – with the help of his oud and songs.
Belly dancing in the midst of air strikes and bombings, this Gaza adolescent holds out the candle of existence to the people of Jabalia concentrating his efforts upon his oud an instrument and his songs in Northern Gaza.
Teenage Youssef Saad whose aspiration of pursuing music has been snatched from him; has transformed into a child again playing his oud for kids, distracting or simply helping them to smile.
Saad looked over the ruins of a refugee camp, once home to thousands, and said: “Where I grew up, all the houses were filled with hope.
‘’Today they have disperse’’, he states.
Even though his house was demolished, and he is not sure he will finish his music education, Saad still believes in doing his own small part and plays the Oud and sings for the children who attend the children’s day center.
Had it not been the war, Saad would have still been in the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music studying and probably exploring the singing industry; but now the structure has been turned to rubble thanks to the war.
At present, he is living with relatives as his own home was razed to the ground. Out of five siblings, the second one is one of the ages who have experienced a rounded fate, so far.
Always an employee of the Palestinian Authority, his father supported Saad’s desire to become a musician to the fullest. Now, however, he spends time at a children’s rehabilitation centre in Jabalia, where he plays the oud and sings to children suffering from the aftermath of war.
On 7th October 2022, fighting was ignited in the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, that latest being the hostage-taking, when Hamas, an Islamist group torn between moderate and hardliners was stealing terror in Israel with a shocking source detailing of about 1,200 deaths and about 250 human shields.
In retaliation, Israel DTO’s ed Gaza run by Hamas, leading to the deaths beyond the sparrow of 40800+ people in Palestine as reported by the Health ministry governed by Hamas. The encircled owing to flare has been leveled as most of the residents have been rendered helpless and homeless.
Now he has temporarily moved in with relatives, however the situation has deprived five of his siblings since birth of normality. And still worked at the Palestinian Authority, his father always encouraged his son in his passion for music.
“There is a tragedy in every house,” Saad said. “Some children have lost their mothers and some their fathers, some their neighbors and still others their friends.”
And even with the risks and calamity that besiege him, Saad is devoted to his cause of soothing the dolorous children of Gaza, and does it through his music.
