The Artists

Raed was born in Al-Bureij refugee camp to parents expelled from Bayt Tima village in 1948. Although he holds a Diploma in Computer Science from Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, he chose a career in fine art. He attended the Summer Art Academy at Darat al-Funun in Amman (1999 – 2002), co-founded the Gaza Contemporary Art collective Eltiqa in 2002, and participated in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2011. From 2000 to 2007, he co-founded, administrated, and taught the Fine Art Program at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza.

Raed suffered loss and displacement several times. He lived next to his parents in Al-Bureij camp until the 2014 aggression, which destroyed their family home, Raed’s studio, and most of his artworks. In search for a safer place, Raed bought an apartment next to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City and moved there in 2015. In November 2023, he had to flee again with his family to Rafah and live in brutal conditions. After learning that his apartment and the whole neighborhood had been flattened during the second aggression on Al Shifa hospital in March 2024, he decided to flee to Egypt. His wife and children were able to leave on May 1, 2024, but Raed was denied exit. When Israeli forces invaded Rafah a week later, he fled to Deir al-Balah, where he endured increasingly difficult conditions for almost a year. On April 17, 2025, he was evacuated to France after receiving a Fellowship Scholarship from the Artists Protection Fund (APF) 2025. A month later, he was reunited with his wife and four children.