Between the tents of displaced families and the rubble of Gaza City’s University College, the sound of musical instruments rises above the noise of war. Here, music is more than just a collection of notes for children and young adults. It is a space to express pain, a bid to reclaim hope, and a fierce determination to hold on to life in a place weighed down by displacement and loss.
Despite the destruction of its main premises in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, the Gaza branch of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music has resumed its educational activities amid the shelters. Classrooms are no longer what they once were, and stable learning environments are a thing of the past. Yet, the students’ desire to play and learn remains unbroken by the devastation surrounding them.
Teaching Amid the Tents
In these makeshift spaces, music lessons have become a way to repair the psychological damage inflicted on the hearts and minds of Gaza’s youth. The classes serve as a window through which students can glimpse a world defined by more than just loss.
Mohammad al-Kharoubi, a music teacher at the conservatory, explains that after the Tal al-Hawa facility was destroyed, the staff was forced to continue teaching in displacement camps. He notes that the harsh living conditions and the ongoing consequences of the war have made the educational process exceptionally difficult. Nevertheless, his students remain eager to learn and are determined to continue their training.
According to al-Kharoubi, the greatest obstacle is the severe shortage of musical instruments, many of which were destroyed in the bombings. As teachers struggle to provide whatever learning opportunities they can, their mission has evolved far beyond teaching notes and rhythms.
Music, al-Kharoubi explains, gives students hope and helps them reclaim some sense of normal life, despite the pain and rubble scattered across the Gaza Strip. A musical instrument has become a vital outlet for students to express themselves, hold onto their passions, and carve out a moment of peace in a reality so drastically different from the lives they once knew.
Speaking When Words Fail
For student Hala Atallah, music is not limited to the instruments they learn to play. It represents a voice trying to reach the world—a story that words often struggle to tell.
Hala says music is her way of processing her reality and emotions, especially when speaking about her suffering becomes too difficult. Through playing the violin, she can convey her experiences of war, death, and displacement, giving shape to feelings that are almost impossible to articulate.
She emphasizes that while the war has shattered many dreams, it has not extinguished hope, which remains alive despite the accumulated losses.
“Hope does not mean forgetting the pain or ignoring reality,” Hala explains. “Rather, it means believing in one’s ability to express what lies within through different means.”
Finding refuge in her violin, Hala uses music as a space to say what words cannot. It does not erase what she has endured, but it offers her emotions a way out, allowing her to be more than just a passive witness to the war.
Fellow student Sara Abu Ramadan sees music as a fluent language of emotion, her melodies shifting to match her state of mind. When she is happy, she plays cheerful, uplifting tunes; when she is grieving, she turns to melancholic music as an outlet for her inner turmoil.
But the war has left deep scars on her musical journey. Sara has been displaced multiple times and survived numerous harrowing experiences. Among the hardest blows was the destruction of her oud in a bombing—an instrument she was unable to repair.
For Sara, losing the oud meant losing the primary tool she relied on to express her feelings and dreams. Nevertheless, she continues to hold on to music, using every opportunity to play as a way to rekindle hope within herself.
The war has deprived people of much and left them with deep pain, she says, but music remains an enduring way to express dreams and hopes, no matter how harsh the circumstances become.
A Melody of Survival
In Sara and Hala’s experiences, playing music is inseparable from the everyday realities of life in Gaza. Every note carries a fragment of memory, and every attempt to play bridges the gap between a present burdened by loss and a future that remains possible.
Where the destruction of war intertwines with the realities of displacement, these teachers and students are fighting to keep art alive. The continuation of music education in tents reflects a fierce determination to protect a space for life from being entirely consumed by conflict.
For Mohammad al-Kharoubi, the mission is to help students regain hope and resume a fraction of their normal lives. Hala Atallah finds a voice in her violin, while Sara Abu Ramadan remains committed to the restorative power of music even after losing her beloved oud. Together, their efforts transcend the boundaries of standard music lessons.
Between the tents and the rubble, melodies cannot erase the scars of war or replace what has been lost. But they give these musicians a way to express what they have endured, a reason to hold on to what they love, and a powerful reminder that the desire to learn and live will always find a place.
Classrooms may be destroyed and instruments lost, but the voices of Gaza’s students continue to carry their stories—stories of pain, displacement, wounded dreams, and a resilient hope still searching for its melody amid the ruins.