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In West Bank art centre, Palestinian children paint hopes beyond checkpoints
The centre serves about 600 children and aims to reach 3,000 as violence and settlement expansion intensify.
Artist Sarah Abu Madi founded the Rommana art center in Hebron in 2020, transforming her home into a space where children use drawing to process experiences of settler violence and Israeli military raids.
The center's work gained urgency as violence by Israeli settlers surged in recent years amid settlement expansion under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the United Nations and most countries regard settlements as illegal under international law.
Around 600 children attend the center in Wadi Al-Samen, an area isolated by military checkpoints, where Abu Madi asks students, "What did that make you feel? What do you wish there would be?" to encourage processing.
The children's artwork has traveled internationally to Canada and Mexico through exhibitions, while Abu Madi aims to expand the project to reach all 3,000 children living in the neighborhood.
One painting by three children depicted them riding a winged horse, symbolizing freedom beyond checkpoints. "Art also creates a space that tells them: you can dream," Abu Madi said, capturing the center's transformative purpose.