روح الروح / Rooh-Al-Rooh (Soul of my soul)

Title: روح الروح / Rooh-Al-Rooh (Soul of my soul)

Artist: Farrukh Najmi

Date: December 2023

Description by the Artist

There is a viral video of a Palestinian grandfather, Khaled Nabhan, saying his final goodbye to his three-year-old granddaughter, Reem. Reem and her five-year-old brother Tariq, were murdered by an Israeli airstrike on their home in Gaza. The oldest mosque in Gaza, the Al-Omari Mosque, built in the 9th century, was also destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. 

This painting depicts Khalid saying his final goodbye to the Soul of His Soul, Reem, with the remains of the Al-Omari Mosque in the center.
On December 16, 2024, a year after the death of his grandchildren, Khalid Nabhan was murdered by an Israeli airstrike.

I am not an artist, but I am a grandfather of a granddaughter who was born just before October 7th, 2023. Every time I hold my granddaughter, in my mind's eye, I see Khalid, Reem, and all the children killed in Gaza. Their haunting memory compelled me to paint.

Viral Video: The original viral video has been deleted by TokTok. Here are some later videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq0lvjWGk2E

https://tinyurl.com/soul-of-my-soul-video

Credits: Doug Ritter, a local Wellfleet artist, gave me a crash course on painting on very short notice. Not only is he a superb artist but he is also a terrific art teacher.  http://www.projectarts.org/

Photo Credits: I used the following photos as reference for the painting:

Paintings By Me

• Soul of My Soul

• Where Olive Trees Weep

• The Soul of Wellfleet