Mohammed Timraz
Founder of the We Are Not Alone and the HeART of Gaza Project
HeART of Gaza is a project started by Mohammed Timraz to provide a single art tent for children in Gaza who had lost access to education and childhood. What started as one tent eventually turned into tents in 17 locations throughout Gaza City and a partnership with the We Are Not Alone initiative to distribute water, food, cash donations, medicine, clothing and formula.
HeART of Gaza connects on the ground work in Palestine with international art exhibits and art exchanges to raise awareness about the genocide and highlight the voices of children, showing Gaza through their eyes.
After surviving months of Israeli attacks Mohammed Timraz was extremely concerned for the well being of his loved ones and the communities surrounding him. He turned anguish into passion and founded the We Are Not Alone project in December of 2023. We are not alone distributes food, water, clothing, monetary donations, and medicine.
About HeART of Gaza
When did HeART of Gaza open it’s first tent?
HeART of Gaza opened it’s first tent in June, 2024.
How old are the children at the art tents?
We serve children 3-17 years old.
Where are the art tents?
We work in 17 locations across Gaza City.
Our Reach
We have had more than 300 exhibitions and art exchanges in 25 countries.
How many children does HeART of Gaza serve?
Our first art tent welcomed 20 children, and now we serve over 2000!
Why Were the Art Tents Created?
Following October of 2023, the situation in Gaza became increasingly terrifying, catastrophic, and unlivable. Israel’s blockade and bombardment destroyed infrastructure and continues to cause manufactured famine, a lack of access to clean drinking water, and to date, every hospital in Gaza has been bombed.
Daily Israeli bombardment obliterated over 92% of homes, all universities, and over 97% of schools. Children no longer attend schools because no schools remain.
One day, Mohammed saw his niece Shahed drawing a child with no head. Shahed was 7 years old at the time. Mohammed asked her, “Shahed, habibti, why are you drawing this?” The week before she had seen pictures of a bombing in Khan Younis, of the bodies of martyrs. One of those martyrs was a child with no head.
Shahed had not been able to sleep since then. Without drawing to express herself, she would have been alone and unseen in her trauma.
From that moment, Mohammed knew he needed urgently to make something for Shahed and the children in Gaza to process their trauma.
Supporting Mohammed’s’ projects means providing:
Workers
We pay art counselors and workers because the genocide has made life impossibly expensive, and they support themselves and their families.
Art Supplies
We provide paper, colored pencils, markers, and find spaces for the art tents.
Water
Our team distributes water to areas in Deir Al-Balah and Gaza City.
Food & Medicine
We distribute meat, flour, dried goods, canned goods, formula, and medicine.
Cash Funds
In order to respect the autonomy and personal needs of Palestinians in Gaza, we distribute cash to maintain agency in purchases.
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.”
― James Baldwin
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