Sending Love to Palestine Through 1,000 Artworks
Concern for Palestine can be voiced in many ways, one of which is through the creation of artworks themed around Palestine and Al-Aqsa.
This was evident at the Adara Relief International Art and Craft for Palestine event held at Pasaraya Blok M on Saturday afternoon (22/8). The activity invited the public to express their concern for Palestine and Al-Aqsa through artistic creativity.
Art and Craft for Palestine was a collaboration between Adara, Gerai Adara, the Coalition of Young Indonesian Women for Palestine (KPMIP), Rajut Indonesia, and the global community Hands of Ummah in Japan.
Since June 2026, Adara has spearheaded a digital movement of works for Palestine. The movement successfully collected more than 1,000 works from various regions in Indonesia and abroad. All the works were then exhibited at Art and Craft for Palestine.
Participants expressed their concern through various media. The collected works included digital art, paintings, knitting, ribbon embroidery, soap, pipe cleaners, flannel, bags, hats, and recycled creations.
The movement also involved participants with disabilities. Their involvement demonstrated that limitations are not a barrier to channelling creativity as a medium for voicing support for Palestine.
Adara Relief International’s Managing Director, Maryam Rachmayani, expressed appreciation for all participants involved in the movement. Maryam said there are many ways to show concern for Palestine.
“There are many things we can do, such as today, knitting is part of a work where we can incorporate Palestinian issues through its colours, its images, and through art it can also lead us to voice the Palestinian issue. Even wearing a keffiyeh or a small watermelon brooch already voices support for Palestine,” Maryam said during the event.
Maryam said that acts of concern for Palestine must not stop. This solidarity action is also planned to reach victims of forest and land fires in Kalimantan and earthquake victims in East Nusa Tenggara. Thus, this social movement does not only empathise with the suffering of Palestinians, but also with the tears of disaster victims in the homeland.
“Hopefully all the activities we hold until the end of the event will continue to bring happiness to us and also to our brothers and sisters in Palestine,” Maryam said.
At the event, Adara not only exhibited works but also distributed hundreds of Palestine-themed keychains to visitors. The distribution of these works was part of a social movement to spread the message of concern for Palestine.
In addition to the exhibition, Art and Craft for Palestine featured a Crafter Sharing Session. The session presented Eva Kurniawati, founder of Ne Craft, with Al-Aqsa-themed ribbon embroidery works, and a representative from Lumintu Recycle Art. They shared their experiences in combining creativity and concern for Palestine through art.
Meanwhile, Rizky Zera Ardelia, a student of Indonesian literature at the University of Indonesia, drew the audience’s attention with a poetry reading. Rizky read poems about the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The poems were by Mahmoud Darwish (titled Those Who Pass Between Fleeting Words), Fadwa Tuqan (My Sad City), and Refaat Alareer (If I Die).
“This poetry is to voice concern for Palestine,” Rizky said.
Musical performances by Bella Fawzi and Fia Fellow also enlivened the event in the afternoon. Visitors could capture the moment at a Newspaper Photobooth, which presented education about Palestine and Al-Aqsa in a newspaper-style print.
“Through Art & Craft for Palestine, Adara hopes that this spirit of concern will continue to grow in various forms, particularly through works and real actions for Palestine,” Maryam said.
Previously, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, Raed Abu al-Hummus, revealed that there are currently 4,769 young Palestinian men and women detained in Israeli prisons. According to him, prisoners from the youth group also contribute to the death toll of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
According to Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups, more than 9,400 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons, including 92 women and more than 370 children. They face torture, starvation, and medical neglect, which has resulted in dozens of Palestinian prisoners being killed in Israeli prisons.
Israel has increased violations against Palestinian prisoners since launching its aggression on the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023. This underscores the importance of strengthening support for the Palestinian struggle for independence.