New Book Features Drawings from Censored Gaza Children’s Art Exhibit

For Immediate Release

Berkeley, CA—

The Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) is proud to announce the publication of a book called, “A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship.” A collection of art by Palestinian children, it features the drawings from the exhibit that was recently censored by the Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) in Oakland, California.

The 80-page book from Pacific View Press features full color, print images of the censored drawings and a special foreword by celebrated author, Alice Walker. An essay by Barbara Lubin, Executive Director of MECA, which organized “A Child’s View from Gaza” for MOCHA, describes the struggle against the censorship.

On September 8, MOCHA’s board of directors voted to cancel “A Child’s View from Gaza” art exhibit following pressure from anti-Palestinian groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. This triggered a massive outcry against the suppression of Palestinian children’s art.

“MECA was overwhelmed by the amount of support for the exhibit and the demand by thousands to show the children’s artwork,” said Lubin. “The Jewish Federation of the East Bay and the Jewish Community Relations Council shamefully boasted about their efforts to silence Palestinian voices, but ultimately we feel that we’ve won and the children of Gaza have won.”

When the Museum’s board refused to change its decision, MECA displayed the art for two months in a small retail space around the corner from MOCHA. Since then, it has been seen by hundreds locally, and requests to host the exhibit have poured in from all over the world.

“The children artists in Gaza are witnesses to and survivors of Israel’s brutal 23-day assault in 2008-2009. We fought hard to share their stories and the horror they experienced, and with the release of this book, we hope their art will reach an even broader audience,” said Lubin.

One of the drawings featured in the book is by Asil, a ten-year-old girl from Rafah refugee camp, who painted a picture of herself in jail, with Arabic phrases in the spaces between the bars: “I have a right to live in peace,” “I have a right to live this life,” and “I have a right to play.”

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For media requests, please contact:
Leena Al-Arian
Communications Coordinator, MECA
510-548-0542/ Leena@mecaforpeace.org
http://www.mecaforpeace.org