Four years ago, artist and rock painting expert Ramadan Ahmed picked up a simple stone from Gaza. As he held it in his hands, he decided to turn it into a powerful work of art, capturing the everyday reality of Palestinians.Â
Fast forward to 2023, especially after 7 October, Ramadan began capturing the reality of the over two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, enduring Israel’s genocide that claimed thousands of lives and left tens of thousands homeless in shelters.
Now 64 years old, Ramadan has experienced this devastation firsthand, losing both his loved ones and his home as a result of the genocide.
Originally from a refugee family forced out of the village of Barbara during the Nakba in 1948, Ramadan spoke to The New Arab about his story.
He began by explaining that he carries the weight of generational loss. Yet, despite the destruction that has touched every aspect of life — people, trees, and even the stones he carved — he remains unshaken.
Speaking from Khan Younis while carving a piece of stone, Ramadan told The New Arab: “We will not leave, and we will not abandon our land — no matter how many they kill or how much they destroy.”
This affirmation is reflected in his art, where Ramadan sees his stone carving as “resistance on the front of art,” believing that resisting occupation isn’t just about weapons but about every Palestinian expressing their struggle and concerns in their own way.
A message to the world and future generations
Recalling Israel’s genocide, Ramadan showed his work to The New Arab and explained that the carved stone pieces are arranged across a large wooden surface to form a mosaic, which, in his words, represents “Gaza in wartime.”
For Ramadan, the artwork he created from his tent during the genocide powerfully illustrates the struggles faced by Gazans, including forced displacement, bombardment, and the destruction of homes, mosques, and churches.
In sharing this, Ramadan picked up a piece shaped like a tent, symbolising the shelters of hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans. He then showed a model of an intact Jewish synagogue, topped with a menorah, placed behind the security fence — a clear contrast to the damaged places of worship in Gaza
Ramadan also held models of a mosque and a church, both burned and damaged by Israeli war machinery.
“This artwork depicts the various forms of suffering faced by Gazans since the genocide began,” Ramadan explained.
“Tanks invade our lands and we are surrounded by warships and warplanes, all of which are committing horrific crimes,” he added. Â
Moving to the other side of Ramadan’s artwork, there is a model of a cart pulled by an animal alongside a primitive three-wheeled ‘Tuk-Tuk’, which has become the main mode of transport in Gaza as cars have largely vanished due to destruction or the fuel crisis.
Reflecting on his work, he makes it clear that his artwork not only depicts suffering during the genocide but also carries a message to the world and future generations.
“We are a people who love life and peace,” Ramadan continued. “We are not advocates of blood, killing, and destruction, and it is our right to live in safety, freedom, and peace, like other nations of the world.”
While sharing this, Ramadan pointed to an old key from before the Nakba, preserved by refugee families as a symbol of their unwavering right to return.
“Our fathers, grandfathers, and families were displaced from our homes and lands in historic Palestine, and now the occupation is committing crimes against us in Gaza,” he said.
“But we will not allow the Nakba to be repeated. We will not emigrate abroad — we will remain steadfast here in Gaza until we return to Barbara, Haifa, Jaffa, Akka, and all the cities, towns, and villages from which we were displaced,” he added.
Documenting history and cultureÂ
For Ramadan, art is not just a means of expression or a message to the world — it is a way of documenting history and culture.
This belief has driven him to spend over two decades collecting and preserving Palestinian artefacts and heritage, working closely with archaeologists and ancient history professors, particularly at the Islamic University in Gaza.
His passion grew so strong that he sold inherited land, his home, and even apartments meant for his children to establish a museum in Khan Younis, dedicating all his time and effort to it.
Before the museum was burned and looted by Israeli forces during their ground incursion into Khan Younis, Ramadan’s museum housed a rich collection of artefacts spanning various historical periods, some dating back over 5,000 years, including Canaanite, Phoenician, Pharaonic, Babylonian, Byzantine, and Islamic pieces — testaments to the diverse cultures that have inhabited the land.
Holding a 500-year-old Ottoman rifle, intricately decorated with mosaics, ceramics, and silver engravings, and made from ebony wood, Ramadan shared with The New Arab that the rifle survived the destruction.
“I established a museum that cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars, which was, of course, burned and looted,” Ramadan said, clearly distressed.
Despite the destruction, Ramadan holds hope for the remaining remnants of his collection that survived.
Currently, he preserves these remnants in various ways, holding on to the hope that one day he will establish a global museum to represent Palestine’s heritage and artefacts.
‘We will recover’Â
While the future of Gaza remains uncertain, one truth is clear for Ramadan: his determination is evidence of the resilience of the Palestinian people, who have endured centuries of oppression and displacement.
Committed to his mission of preserving Palestinian history and culture and inspiring future generations, Ramadan shared: “This is not just about my museum or my artefacts. This is about preserving the history and culture of our people. We will not let the occupation erase our identity. We will rebuild, we will recover, and we will continue to tell our story to the world.
“Our minarets and domes of mosques, our churches, and our landmarks will remain towering and firmly etched in the minds and memories of generations to come, and with our own hands, we will rebuild what the occupation has destroyed,” Ramadan added.Â
In saying this, Ramadan hopes organisations focused on preserving history and heritage will support him in “establishing a monument to preserve Palestine’s artefacts and heritage” amid Israel’s ongoing occupation.Â
Eman Alhaj Ali is a Palestinian freelance journalist, writer, translator, and storyteller based in Gaza with publications on a variety of international and local websites
Follow her on X:Â @EmanAlhajAli1
