Sitti's Bird: A Gaza Story

Malak’s everyday life going to school, spending time with her Mama and Baba and visiting her Sitti, or grandmother, is like that of many children. However, there is always the threat of attack in the form of a loud and frightening noise that causes buildings across the city to shake.

There’s a heart-breaking weight of feeling behind Malak seeing the cage where Sitti’s bird is kept, raising the question of whether they too are in a cage.

Malak’s painting is used as a means of expression and possible escape during an upcoming exhibition, which helps build a sense of hope into a narrative and life dominated by uncertainty and violence.

There’s a very childlike quality to the illustrations which complements the author’s story of their own childhood living through Operation Protective Edge in Palestine.