On Monday, January 26, 2026, Israeli forces ransacked the Al Kamandjâti Center in the Qalandia Refugee Camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem and destroyed all the musical instruments there. The center, which teaches music to Palestinian children, is part of the Women’s Programs Center in the camp. The soldiers also did extensive damage to the center’s facilities.
In an email to supporters, the center’s leadership called the raid part of Israel’s “systemic destruction of cultural life in Palestine.”
Homelands’ senior producer Sandy Tolan produced two radio stories for NPR’s Weekend Edition about Al Kamandjâti and its founder, the Ramallah-born musician, composer, and conductor Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan. “The Stone and the Viola” aired in 1998 and “Ramzi’s Story: Laying Down Stones and Picking up Instruments” aired in 2010. Sandy expanded his reporting in his 2015 book Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land.
Al Kamandjâti was established in 2002 and now operates several programs for young musicians in Palestine and Europe.
“For more than 18 years, the center [in Qalandia] has served as a vital cultural and educational space for children, youth, and women, providing music education, artistic activities, and women’s programs to the camp and surrounding communities,” the center wrote in its email. “This brutal attack comes as part of the ongoing targeting of cultural and community institutions.”
Those interested in making a tax-deductible donation to Al Kamandjâti can find instructions here.