Cultural Resilience

Small creative initiatives

One of the legacies of the Gaza genocide and the increasing restrictions on the West Bank has been the near-collapse of many arts programmes. These small creative initiatives — which had managed to stay afloat before October 2023 — have faced devastating losses of income.

Staff, teachers and students have often been unable to reach their schools or workplaces because of movement restrictions, temporary checkpoints, lockdowns and curfews. The sharp rise in settler violence has left many people too afraid to travel beyond their own communities.

Family incomes have been shattered by job losses following the revoking of work permits in Israel and the collapse of tourism.

Together with Holy Land Trust and other groups such as Palestine Music Expo (PMX), Amos Trust established a Cultural Resilience fund — providing small but vital grants to arts organisations and groups of artists to help them survive this period.

Hebron Music Academy

The Hebron Music Academy was founded in 2021 by musician Noor Alraee and his siblings Tamador and Aybak from Arroub Refugee Camp, just north of Hebron.

They saw that in Hebron — a traditional city where music is often considered haram (forbidden under Islamic law) — there were very few opportunities for children and young people to study or play music. Many existing music academies in Palestine have strict academic structures, so Noor and his siblings wanted to create a space that was more responsive to individual needs and creative aspirations.

Together with Holy Land Trust and other groups such as Palestine Music Expo (PMX), Amos Trust established a Cultural Resilience fund — providing small but vital grants to arts organisations and groups of artists to help them survive this period.

Establishing a music academy in Hebron was never going to be easy. Yet, before 7th October 2023, the Academy had 150 students and was financially stable. After the war began, student numbers dropped to fewer than 50, incomes plummeted and travel became dangerous. Noor himself could not reach the Academy for several months and still struggles to get there each day from Arroub.

A Cultural Resilience grant from Amos helped the Academy pay its rent and continue offering this vital space for creativity, self-expression and hope to young people in Hebron.