STATEMENT
Salwa and her son Muhannad were burnt to death in their “refuge” tent in the AlBureij Refugee camp on 8th October 2024, though her husband Ahmed and their 16 year old son Muayed “survived”. This only compounded the tragedy surrounding their two siblings, Muhammed aged 20 and Mai aged 19. They were amongst the 55 Abuzour martyrs bombed by Israel on 4.12.23. We commemorated them in the “Gauze” exhibition.
We now commemorate them – along with Muhannad – in this exhibition, as they are amongst the 12 young Abuzour adults featured in the “Stolen Futures” installation.
AlBureij Refugee Camp was established in 1949 with a population of 13,000 Palestinians from the broader Gaza area. A small percentage of the refugees were housed in the British army barracks but the bulk of them were housed in tents. UNRWA built concrete homes in 1950, replacing the tents.
Salwa and her family were living in the AlBureij camp because they had been displaced from North Gaza by the Israel’s military. UNRWA provided the tents as “refuge”.
A recent report published by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor details the systematic targeting of assaults such as that in AlBureij, killing civilians in their homes, shelters, displacement camps, and humanitarian-declared zones.
NOWHERE is safe in Gaza.
Note: The images transferred onto gauze within this installation are of Salwa (43 years old) and her three dead children,
Muhannad (21) Mohammed (20) Mai (19)
Christine Dawson
2026