On 5 August 2010 Tony Lloyd visited Loss of Innocence: An Exhibition of Children’s Art from Gaza at Manchester Cathedral.

The exhibition has been collected by Rod Cox in March and April 2009 and displaying the work in the UK is the result of a promise made to the schools and youth groups in Gaza that he visited. The work is intended to educate us in the West and provide a psychological boost to those living in Palestine, helping them to believe that they are not as isolated and restoring some self-esteem. The project is supported in this regard by Gaza Community Health, the Gaza Ministry of Education and UNESCO.

The Children are very excited about their artwork even though a van, painted over by a Gazan school and intended to carry the project from Gaza to the UK, was not permitted to leave Gaza. The exhitiion can be viewed at www.rodcoxandgaza.blogspot.com

I visited Gaza myself in February 2009 following the Israeli invasion. The level of destruction and loss of human life made the invasion an unacceptable tragedy.

To an outsider the scenes were shocking but for the children who drew and painted the pictures in this exhibition this is what they actually witnessed and what is really shocking is knowing an estimated 300 children were killed.