Turkish documentary highlights Palestinian women’s resistance through art under occupation

By Fatma Zehra Solmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) — A new documentary by the Women and Democracy Foundation’s cultural initiative KADEM Sanat captures the voices of two Palestinian women artists resisting occupation through their work.

Titled Some Stories Cannot Be Silenced, the short film follows painter Amal Abu al Sibah from Gaza and musician Sadin Tavil from Jerusalem as they turn art into a vehicle for memory, resistance, and hope under Israeli control.

- ‘I see art as a weapon to defend my country’

Amal Abu al Sibah, 25, returned to Gaza after her studies and began transforming war-torn ruins into messages of defiance. She painted a female figure on the last standing wall of a bombed building, now seen as a quiet symbol of resistance.

“I see art as a weapon to defend my country,” she says in the film. “Every woman here has a role to play. I can’t wait for the day when my name will be known worldwide.”

- Music from Jerusalem: Voice of a people

Eighteen-year-old Sadin Tavil plays the qanun in East Jerusalem. Her music, she says, carries the voices of those whose stories have been lost.

“My message is this: just like freedom, there is safety, education, and life here, and no one should be exiled from this place,” she says. “I want to see my homeland free.”

- Beyond art: Memory and resistance

The documentary emphasizes how Palestinian women are preserving culture and dignity amid a prolonged military occupation. Each image and note becomes part of a collective memory resisting erasure.

- Madleen: Hope beyond the frame

The story of the aid ship Madleen—named after a young fisherwoman from Gaza—is not part of the documentary but echoes its themes. The ship, seized by Israeli forces, carried aid and the hopes of a besieged people.

“Like Emel’s brush and Sadin’s music, Madleen is a symbol of resistance,” the film’s producers said. “Its message is simple: you cannot block hope.”

As Gaza endures what many international observers have called genocidal levels of violence, KADEM Sanat’s film is a call to “see, hear, and remember.”

Premiered at the Turkish House in New York during KADEM’s Resisting Through Art event, the documentary is now streaming via KADEM’s social media platforms.

“Watch, share, and amplify their voices,” the group said. “Because some stories cannot be silenced.”