Experience Beautiful Resistance Live at London’s Union Chapel
Young artists from Aida Refugee Camp turn hardship into theatre, music and dance — a night of courage, creativity and hope.

Sunday 7th December, Doors: 6.30pm | Show: 7.30pm
Union Chapel, 19b Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN
Tickets: £20/£15 concessions

In association with Bethlehem Cultural Festival.

In Bethlehem’s Aida Refugee Camp, children and young people gather in studios and streets, armed not with weapons but with brushes, cameras, drums, words and dance steps. This is Alrowwad Cultural & Arts Society — a community transforming fear into courage and oppression into art.

‘Beautiful Resistance’ is how they describe it: bold, non-violent expression through theatre, music, photography and storytelling. Each performance is a declaration that identity, hope and dignity cannot be silenced.

Now, you can witness their power live. Their new production, Anfaas (Breaths), brings stories of loss, love and defiant joy to the stage, told through rhythm, movement and music — Beautiful Resistance in action.

Also joining us:

Saied Silbak

Saied Silbak is an oud virtuoso and composer. He has a unique understanding of a wide range of musical traditions — from Arabic, Turkish and Indian to classical Western styles. 

Saied’s signature sound, created through his artful fusion of these influences, has captivated audiences around the world, with performances at festivals and concert series across the UK, Belgium, France, Palestine, Morocco, Argentina and beyond.

Visit Saied’s website →
Visit Saied on Instagram →

Haia Mohammed

Haia Mohammed is a 23-year-old poet from Khan Younis in Gaza. A former computer programming student, she lived there with her mother and sisters. Her love of the sea, the sky, art, her country and her family runs through her writing. Her debut poetry pamphlet, The Age of Olive Trees, published in 2025 by Out-Spoken Press, was named by The Guardian as one of its Best Recent Poetry titles.

Visit Haia’s website →
Visit Haia on Instagram →

Don’t miss this extraordinary evening. All proceeds will support the Amos Trust Christmas Appeal, funding Alrowwad’s work in the West Bank and trauma support and education for children in Gaza.

Book tickets here →

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More about the performers

Alrowwad Culture & Arts Society

Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem use dance, music, drama and film to empower young people through non-violent creative programmes and preserve Palestinian culture.

Aida Refugee Camp, just outside Bethlehem, has been described as ‘the most tear-gassed place in the world.’ Since October 2023, the camp has faced daily incursions by Israeli occupying forces and its children and young people live under constant threat of violence, arrest and detention.

Dr Abdelfattah Abusroar

Dr Abdelfattah Abusroar founded Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society in 1988 offering a creative lifeline through its Beautiful Resistance programme — teaching dabke dance, drama, music, film and photography, as well as English and maths. It provides a safe space where children feel seen, valued and free to express themselves and their culture.

Read more about Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society →

More about Saied Silbak

Saied Silbak is a Palestinian composer and oud player born in Shafaa`mr, a city located in the lower Galilee of occupied Palestine. He began training in classical piano at the age of four, before moving onto the oud in his early teens in order to delve deep into the nuances at the base of Arabic music. 

Saied went on to train at the Beit Almusica Conservatoire where he later taught, before studying Music and Psychology at the university of Haifa and then completing his Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he is currently based.

More about Haia Mohammed

Haia Mohammed is a 23-year-old poet from Khan Younis in Gaza. A former computer programming student, she lived there with her mother and sisters. Her love of the sea, the sky, art, her country and her family runs through her writing. She dreams of travel, of learning and of building a life that allows her to support her people and their future.

Her debut poetry pamphlet, The Age of Olive Trees, published in 2025 by Out-Spoken Press, was named by The Guardian as one of its Best Recent Poetry titles.

In 2025, Haia received a full scholarship to study Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. She arrived in London in September 2025 to begin her studies as part of the first group of scholars successfully evacuated from Gaza to the UK.