For decades, Maha Al Daya was known in Gaza as a master embroiderer of traditional dresses, a vibrant tribute to Palestinian identity brought out at times of celebration.
But after fleeing the Gaza war, Ms Al Daya, 49, traded dresses for painted rubble and embroidered maps documenting the enclave's destruction. Gone are the flower motifs. Now, her work depicts ruins and displacement.
“Something changed inside me,” Ms Al Daya said. “I now only work on the pain and suffering I saw in Gaza.”
The geography of Gaza carries deep emotional weight for Ms Al Daya, as the maps reproduce leaflets thrown from Israeli planes telling Gazans to leave certain zones. The image of those fluttering papers falling from the sky remains seared in her mind.
In Paris, where Ms Al Daya has lived since January, she carries one of those leaflets taped to the back of her phone. When she met The National in her office, she wore a white T-shirt embroidered with “All eyes on Rafah”.
“It's the first time that my art is political,” she said. Her embroidery has even likely made it to the Elysee Palace. During a meeting in April at the Arab World Institute with French President Emmanuel Macron alongside other Palestinian figures residing in Paris, she handed him one of her maps of Gaza.
The red stitches conveyed its destruction. The black contour represented the sadness that now fills the enclave. She also gave him an embroidery on which she had stitched the words: “Where do we go now?".
“It's what all Gazans ask all the time,” she said. “Because there is nowhere for us to go.”
Tent refuge
More than 63,630 Gazans have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive after around 1,200 died in Hamas-led attacks in October, 2023.
After 23 months of war, which has caused mass starvation in the enclave, Israel now intends to occupy Gaza city, a decision that has caused an international outcry. In this context, France opened its doors to 24 Gazan artists and their families, including Ms Al Daya, via a state-run programme named Pause.
It supports artists and researchers from war-torn countries and gives them a year-long residency and a work contract at a prestigious institution. Ms Al Daya’s one-year placement, which is renewable, is hosted jointly by Sciences Po Paris and the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination.
Her workspace, located in a large 18th-century building in the south of Paris, is just steps away from the studios of famed artists such as Amadeo Modigliani and Paul Gauguin. It opens on to a cobblestone courtyard and a lavender-scented garden.
“I yearn for quiet above all,” she said. “I can't stand the noise of planes any more.”
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Life in Paris could not be more distant from what Ms Al Daya experienced with her family of four during six months of war in Gaza. Her emotions are a complex mix – gratitude for the chance to rebuild their lives, provide quality education and health care for her children, and a deep, persistent yearning for home.
“I do not feel like a stranger in this city, but I have a longing for my home and my city, Gaza, its sea and its streets,” she said.
When the conflict in Gaza started, the family fled their house with just a few items, thinking they would be back in days. Ms Al Daya's artwork, including dresses she had been working on for a fashion show, was left behind.
“We thought we’d be back in two days. The longest war had lasted 50 days in the past,” she said, referring to what Israel named Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
Unbearable conditions
But the house they sheltered in in Khan Younis was struck twice by missiles, injuring its inhabitants.
The family escaped unharmed but fled again to a tent encampment in Al Mawasi, an area in the south of Gaza where most of the enclave's population of two million is now living. There, they had to adapt to a life of squalor and overcrowding.
“What you see on TV doesn't begin to convey what life is like in Gaza. If I'd stayed, I would have died. I don't know how people continue to bear it,” she said. “I still have nightmares from that period.”
Her time in Al Mawasi was one of the hardest times in Ms Al Daya's life. But even then, she tried to embellish it with art. Using charcoal, she drew embroidery patterns on the tents, and even an imaginary bathroom, complete with a bathtub and a toilet.
“I dreamt of having a real bathroom,” she said. “We had to bring soap and Dettol and clean it for half an hour before using the neighbour's toilet because hundreds had used it before us.”
There was nowhere to shower, so the family washed with a water basin. Rain dripped through the tents. The neighbour's nine-year-old son died of hepatitis.
On the tents, Ms Al Daha also drew cacti – a symbol of steadfastness and pride, she said. At home, she had kept a cactus on her balcony, where she grew flowers.
In March 2024, the family paid $20,000 to an Egyptian travel company to leave Gaza. One month later, they left by bus. The sum was more than the family could afford. An artist in Bethlehem helped raise funds in exchange for future work by her and her husband, who is also an artist.
“When we passed the checkpoint, I felt I could finally breathe,” Ms Al Daya said. This kind of exit was made impossible for Gazans after Israel sealed the border in May 2024.
No going back
In Egypt, she applied for the Pause programme, supported by a French non-profit support network named Maan for Gaza. Nine months later, she arrived in Paris with her family.
Her sister, however, remains in Gaza. Every day, they speak on the phone. Each call brings grim updates of life in the enclave. Food and water have become scarce. A bag of coffee now costs 500 shekels, or $146, she said.
Paris is where the family's future lies, according to Ms Al Daya. She has a love story with the French capital, first struck when she went there for a four-month arts residency in 2012.
“Three times a week, I go to the Seine river to relax. Sometimes, I take my embroidery with me,” she said. “The war isn't over and even when it ends, Gaza will need at least 10 years to rebuild.”
Director: Shady Ali
Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
Rating: 3/5
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
GROUPS
Group Gustavo Kuerten
Novak Djokovic (x1)
Alexander Zverev (x3)
Marin Cilic (x5)
John Isner (x8)
Group Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer (x2)
Kevin Anderson (x4)
Dominic Thiem (x6)
Kei Nishikori (x7)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
RIDE%20ON
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (All UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (11.30pm)
Saturday
Union Berlin v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
FA Augsburg v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Werder Bremen (6.30pm)
SC Paderborn v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Borussia Monchengladbach (9.30pm)
Sunday
Cologne v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
Mainz v FC Schalke (9pm)
Naga
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMeshal%20Al%20Jaser%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdwa%20Bader%2C%20Yazeed%20Almajyul%2C%20Khalid%20Bin%20Shaddad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
