Mohammad Toutah, a 34-year-old Palestinian artist, carves letters with sands in Arabic written "Palestine in Solidarity with China" on the beach of Gaza City, Feb. 17, 2020.
"The only way to express my solidarity with our Chinese brothers is to carve on sands to send them my message of solidarity," said Palestinian handicapped artist Mohammad Toutah.
Toutah said despite the hard living situation in the region, he decided to come here to make the sand sculpture to show his support for China in an artistic way.
GAZA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Mohammad Toutah, a 34-year-old Palestinian amputee, is holding the handle of a margin trowel to carve some letters with sands on the beach of Gaza City, trying to express solidarity in his own way with the Chinese people fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic.
After a while of careful work, a piece of sand sculpture, in the form of two short lines of letters reads in Arabic "Palestine in Solidarity with China," was finished.
Toutah, father of four children, lost his right leg during an attack on the Gaza Strip in 2009.
"The only way to express my solidarity with our Chinese brothers is to carve on sands to send them my message of solidarity," said the Palestinian artist, standing beside the sculpture with the help of a pair of crutches.
China is undergoing some difficulties and the Palestinian people are following the situation in China with deep concerns, he said, in a reference to the pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus, officially dubbed COVID-19, in China at the beginning of this year. He called on all others to support and pray for the Asian country.
Medical workers help the first batch of patients infected with the novel coronavirus move into their isolation wards at Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
By the end of Tuesday, the disease has infected 74,185 people on the Chinese mainland, and 2,004 people had died of the epidemic. Meanwhile, a total of 14,376 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.
Since the outbreak of the disease, many countries and organizations have extended a helping hand to China and showed their firm solidarity through different channels.
Toutah said despite the hard living situation in the region, he decided to come here to make the sand sculpture to show his support for China in an artistic way.
Carving and drawing on the sands was part of the activities of the youth's campaign to express solidarity with China. The campaign is run by prominent journalists and veteran social media activists.
They also launched activities in cooperation with Gaza children and called on people to show their solidarity on the Internet.
Mohammad Toutah, a 34-year-old Palestinian artist, carves letters with sands in Arabic written "Palestine in Solidarity with China" on the beach of Gaza City, Feb. 17, 2020. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
When making the sculpture, Toutah drew attentions from people around and passer-bys, who chose to take photos and videos with him and his work.
"This man is reflecting the real image of the Palestinian people that despite their internal crisis, they never forget to send message to the world that they are with humanity," said Al-Hamadani in his mid-20s, who did not give his full name. "China is a great country and I'm confident that it will win this battle and get rid of the coronavirus," he added.
Allah al-Hajj, standing with her three friends on the beach, said she feels sad for what is happening in China, as "the epidemic has no mercy" and does not know any races or genders.
Palestinians are eager to hear very soon that China managed to overcome the issue and succeeded in fighting the epidemic, she said.
After completing his work, Toutah walked to a little hill of sands to watch how the carving looked like, and then he implanted a Palestinian flag in the middle of the sand. ■
