Lisbon art installation highlights the suffering of Gaza’s children

The suffering of Gaza’s children was highlighted for a few hours on Friday in an emotive and graphic installation on a main street in the historic part of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

Made up of toys and clothing covered in splatters of red paint, it aimed to draw the attention of both locals and tourists to the thousands of Palestinian youngsters who have died in the conflict.

The action was organised by civil society groups to mark International Children’s Day that in Portugal is celebrated on 1 June.

For days, they called for donations of children’s clothing and toys to be able to fill the entire Rua do Carmo, one of the most iconic streets in downtown Lisbon.

Philip Butler, an Irish resident in Portugal, said his 5-year-old daughter Maeve contributed some of her clothing to the installation.

“We've been following the genocide in Gaza particularly since October 7th, but also the situation in Palestine for decades. And it just keeps getting worse and worse,” he said.

“Maeve has been to many different manifestations and she understands what’s going on, as much as a 5-year-old can. And we want to do what we can, although our efforts are quite small,” he said.

Julieta Almeida of the Parents for Peace collective said people are increasingly feeling the need to do something.

She said that to mark the International Day of Children without recalling “the suffering, the deep suffering” of the children in Gaza would be wrong.

“It’s not just the dead, we account for the dead, for the injured. But it’s not just them. All

Several other events took place across Portugal took place to call for an immediate ceasefire.

The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, reports that over 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or injured since October 2023.

Israel began its war against the militant group, Hamas, in response to the militant group’s 7 October attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage, some of whom are still being held in Gaza.

The health ministry in the enclave says more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the subsequent Israeli offensive.