My art piece, titled ”They Could Have Been Doctors”, depicts a scene from the ongoing genocide happening to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip right now. Two boys look up from their soccer game, naive and unaware of the violence that will find them in the next second. Two boys, still innocent, still safe from the world’s rage. This painting captures a scene right before disaster. Soon they will be martyrs. Their families will mourn them. At this moment they are still children.

I use mainly acrylic when I paint and this piece is no different. I find acrylic paint the easiest to use. I was inspired to paint this after seeing the tragedy coming out of the Gaza Strip right now. Watching endless videos of people pulling family members out of rubble and overcrowded hospitals while the people doing this to them call them “human animals”  and justify their suffering . This has radicalized me to a degree I don’t have the words for. Watching all this unfold and then learning the history and then seeing all these people justifying it is horrifying.