Marah Eyad Al-Tloul

Marah in 2025

Marah played the daughter in this iconic play (2017)

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 differnet 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….

“My name is Marah Eyad Al-Tlouli, and I am nineteen years old.

I performed the leading role in the play Toothbrush – “The Daughter”.

The idea for the play emerged from our tragic Palestinian reality, in which war is an inseparable part of daily life. If you were to meet someone and ask them how they are, you could be certain that their answer would revolve around the war and their stolen rights.

The questions would then inevitably turn to the war that has deprived us of what remains of our fundamental human rights.

I established the Toothbrushing Project with the support of Mr Nick Bilbrough, who was the principal supporter of this initiative. The aim of this project is to raise donations and funds to provide humanitarian aid — including food, drink, clothing, and shelter — to the residents of the camps in the Gaza Strip.

We therefore appeal for your support, as this project represents life itself for the people of Gaza”

Marah, talking about her work.

The latest desalinated water distrubition project, coordinated by Marah.