Hala Aqel used to take part in Hands up Project online intercultural link ups through her teacher in Gaza, Amal Mukhairez and different remote volunteers around the world. She also acted in various Hands up plays, most notably as the narrator in this remarkable piece about bullying, ‘See something, say something’.

This play was recorded live during the pandemic, when nobody was going to school, and the only way that young people in Palestine could produce remote theatre was with one student per camera. Watch the video below and you’ll see how, despite the weak internet connection, the result is highly innovative and powerful. Watch to the end for an important message that the whole world needs to hear right now.

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Marah played the daughter in one of the Hands up Project’s most iconic plays - ‘Toothbrush’, back in 2017 when she was just 11 years old. This play has been reperformed so many times in so many different contexts around the world, and is also part of the stage play ‘Welcome to Gaza’ which toured the UK in 2025 and is about to be performed in Cairo again.

She’s still in Gaza and is 19 years old now. Instead of going to university (all universities have been destroyed) she has set up an incredibly valuable project, providing desalinated water to the newly established refugee camps in Gaza. She’s called this project ‘Toothbrushing’. Please get in touch with us at Hands up if you’d like to support this project.

This is Marah’s story in her own words….

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Hala Aqel used to take part in Hands up Project online intercultural link ups through her teacher in Gaza, Amal Mukhairez and different remote volunteers around the world. She also acted in various Hands up plays, most notably as the narrator in this remarkable piece about bullying, ‘See something, say something’.

This play was recorded live during the pandemic, when nobody was going to school, and the only way that young people in Palestine could produce remote theatre was with one student per camera. Watch the video below and you’ll see how, despite the weak internet connection, the result is highly innovative and powerful. Watch to the end for an important message that the whole world needs to hear right now.

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My name is Basem Hijazi. I had a dream of becoming a writer and an actor. I saw this as something extremely difficult to achieve in Gaza—until "The Hands Up Project" came along. We created a play called "I Can", and we delivered a powerful performance.

Years later, the devastating war came. I asked myself, why not create a new version of the play for "The Hands Up Project"? And so, we did. We brought I Can back in a new form. It spread among many people, and they asked for more. I continued acting and writing poems, always sharing them with "The Hands Up Project".

This helped me connect with many people around the world and also improved my English.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Raise Hands Project for making our dreams a reality. Your support has truly made a difference.

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In 2017, when I was a child at school in Gaza, my friends and I wrote and acted in a play called ‘21 hours’ for the Hands up project theatre competition. The play simulated the suffering of the young people of Gaza - particularly about the electricity cuts.

 

Making the play also helped me with my English. I was facing difficulty in mastering the language at that time, but thanks to Allah , this experience was the cornerstone of my educational career and understanding of this language.

I am now a student in the College of Medicine at Al Azhar University (just completed by third year exams) , and I’ve been volunteering since the war on Gaza began in the hospitals of the Strip to help the injured people in Gaza.

I was simulating a very difficult suffering with the play , and now I am living this situation for real with regret - alhamdulellah.

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My name is Zahia Arafa .

I am 20 years old. I am Palestinian and I was born in Gaza. When I say Gaza, this means determination, strength and patience. I will talk about myself briefly.

Since childhood, I had many dreams, including acting in plays to convey the Palestinian message and I succeeded. I participated in the hands up project. I participated in several plays, including The Screen, which won the admiration of many people.

We also participated in many meetings with people from different countries That was the first step in changing my personality. For example, I began to communicate effectively with others in  English language. I became more confident.

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My name is Santiago Alonso and I am from Argentina. When I was finishing secondary school, my English teacher, Teresa Continanza, invited me to participate in a Remote Theatre Competition organized by the Hands up Project. The play was called "Live Your Life" and it featured students from different countries such as Palestine, Spain, and Romania, as well as their teachers.

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In 2019, when he was 14, Salah Alaydi acted in the remarkable remote play - 'No more, no less'  Now as an 18 year old, he reflects on his experiences growing up with the Hands up project. His voice may have broken but his dreams have not.

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Hello, I’m Haya Orouq

I am 18 years old. I have participated in the hands up project since I was in primary school and I was a member of it for three years. I can say that these are the most beautiful three years in my life.

I have gained a lot of skills and achieved achievements because I was the leader of my team. We participated in writing stories, scenarios and attendance in zoom sessions. This gave me self-confidence and the ability to lead and cooperate in a team in addition to speaking English well and learning acting skills And I can't forget that I won twice consecutively in the acting competition, traveling to Jerusalem and acting in Alhkwati theater , meeting new people and making strong friendships In the end, there are no words that can describe how grateful I am for this experience and for this project, I am sure that this experience will open horizons for me in the future .

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Well, hello there! I am Diana El Hadidi.

I'm half Russian on my mother's side and half Palestinian from my father's side; therefore, I am a native Arabic-Russian speaker. I learned the English language and became fluent for two primary reasons.

Firstly, I am already proficient in both Arabic and Russian without any difficulty so I am fully aware of the myriad benefits that come with knowing multiple languages, including its positive impact on expanding one's cultural horizons, knowledge base, and quick thinking. This has fueled my desire to learn even more languages.

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Hello I am Zainab Zaher Hamad. I have participated in The Hands Up Project since I was in primary school, specifically with my teacher, Sahar Salha.

Where there are fun and varied activities, such as plays, the most notable of which is the play “Jabina,” where I was the main character, “Jebina,” and the play “He Returns to Haifa,” and many meetings. I received many awards, the most beautiful of which is the book Emma by Jane Austin which Mr Nick gave to me.

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When I was in primary school, I learned about this project, and we participated in many activities, such as we acted in many plays, such as “Jabaina,” and presented them to a group of foreigners.

We also participated in many meetings with people from different countries and got to know them through the Internet, and in the middle school I participated in the play “Live Your Life,”

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Hi, I am Ahed Zaher Alshawish. I worked with the Hands Up project since primary school, and among the various activities in which I participated were plays and online meetings, as well as work within schools in terms of cultural clubs for extracurricular activities.

I can say that working within the scope of these activities was quite a wonderful experience because from my point of view I acquired new skills and developed my old skills, including reading, writing, and speaking fluently, and of course these activities increased my confidence in speaking in English in meetings and councils in front of people and developed my vocabulary, so it was a special experience and I am very happy to join in participating with them.

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