Mahasen Al Khateb was a 32-year-old Palestinian digital illustrator with the Instagram account @mahaseen_ktheeb. She lived in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
Her father had died, and she lived with her 62-year-old mother, two sisters, and a brother, who had recently married. One of her sisters and brother had visual impairments. They had a pet parakeet. Mahasen was very talented at drawing. She studied graphic design and became interested in digital drawing, but there were no classes in that area in Gaza; she learned from YouTube tutorials.
She worked for various companies in Arab countries and taught drawing classes online. This job made her dependent on electricity, so she installed solar panels on the building where she had set up an office for her work.
The beginning of the US/Israeli attacks on Gaza, and specifically on Jabalia, from October 2023 to January 2024, destroyed much of Mahasen's equipment as well as the building that served as her workplace. During the war, she dedicated herself to drawing her human experiences, which she published on Instagram. She was forced to recharge her graphics tablet in neighbors' homes or hospitals.
Her final piece of art was posted on Instagram hours before her death. It depicts the murder of the young Shaban Al-Dalu, who was burned alive on October 14, 2024, with a caption that read: "Tell me what you feel when you see someone burned alive."
Jabalia was a densely populated area, as many displaced people from other areas of Palestine were concentrated there in 1948; for this reason, it was cruelly attacked and its homes completely destroyed. The US/Israel launched their third major attack in October 2024. Mahasen was killed by the bombing of her home on October 19, 2024.
Comments powered by CComment