Artwork honouring children killed in Gaza on show after being dropped by council
An artwork naming 18,457 children killed in Gaza is on display in a church on the NSW South Coast, days after a regional council decided it posed an "unacceptable" risk.
Wall of Tears by American artist Phil Buehler memorialises the children reported killed by the Gaza Health Ministry between October 7, 2023 and July 19, 2025.
An exhibition planned for Shoalhaven Regional Gallery in Nowra was axed last week after the Shoalhaven City Council deemed it would present "an unacceptable level of risk to gallery staff, visitors and tenants".
The artwork was instead shown at the Uniting Church Hall in Berry last night, attracting a crowd of about 300 people.
Reverend John Brentall said he was "very disappointed" by the council's decision.
"It's a piece of artwork. It just didn't seem to pose any threat to anybody," he said.
"The overwhelming feeling seems to be that people are grateful that we've opened up our hall for it."
John Brentall says the Uniting Church in Berry agreed to host the exhibition after it was cancelled by Shoalhaven City Council. (ABC Illawarra: Charles Rushforth)
Safety concerns questioned
Mr Buehler's artwork is touring Australia and has been displayed at venues in Sydney, Perth and Canberra.
Annette Pham, from Shoalhaven Friends of Palestine, said she spent months organising for the work to be displayed in her local gallery.
A Shoalhaven City Council risk assessment seen by the ABC advised that security measures including armed guards and metal detectors would be required for the exhibit to proceed safely.
The artwork features tributes to the deceased along with the chronological statistics of children killed in Gaza. (ABC Illawarra: Charles Rushforth)
Despite organisers agreeing to implement the heightened security measures, the council dropped the exhibit days before it was slated to open on Tuesday.
Ms Pham said many community members remained unsatisfied with the council's justification for axing the exhibit.
"Hundreds of people have now written to Shoalhaven City Council, to all the councillors, to [local members of parliament] asking them to please explain," she said.
A NSW Police spokesperson said in a statement that the council had not raised any concerns with the South Coast police district, and senior officers including the local commander knew nothing about threats relating to the exhibit.
In a statement, the council said it had made the decision not to show the artwork over safety considerations, but it did not answer questions by the ABC about what specific threat the artwork posed to the public.
Annette Pham organised for the exhibition to be displayed in the region. (ABC Illawarra: Charles Rushforth)
Speaking to the audience at the opening, Wollongong social worker Safaa Rayan said she was heartbroken to find one of her young relatives among the names of the dead.
"In the last three years we've lost 48 family members, but there was one name I did not want to see," Ms Rayan said.
"It was my cousin's only child Obeida; he was the same age as my daughter.
"I get to watch [my daughter] grow up, but not my cousins — they don't get to see their children survive."
Safaa Rayan (left) and her daughter Fatima discovered the name of a young family member written on the artwork. (ABC Illawarra: Charles Rushforth)
Local doctor stunned by Gaza visit
Shellharbour Hospital emergency specialist Ayman Elattar attended the opening last night.
Dr Elattar travelled to Palestine in March last year as part of a medical mission organised by the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA).
He said he was deeply affected by the conditions he witnessed while working at Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Ayman Elattar worked at Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip last year. (ABC Illawarra: Charles Rushforth)
"So many people told me that nothing would prepare me for what I would see," he said.
"I witnessed mass-casualty incidents every day. Most of the time there were multiple incidents in one day."
Dr Elattar said the safety risks expressed by the local council were ironic in comparison to the humanitarian crisis he had witnessed in Gaza.
"Look around; people are safe, they're eating traditional food, 100 per cent safe," he said.
In June, an independent United Nations inquiry accused Israel of committing war crimes, including genocide and deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children, during the conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli government denounced the finding as "factually unsubstantiated" in an 18-page document submitted in response to the report.
Ms Pham said the controversy surrounding the exhibition had led to venues in Kiama and Port Kembla offering to exhibit the work.
Wall of Tears has been exhibited at locations across Sydney, Canberra and Western Australia. (ABC Illawarra: Charles Rushforth)
"If you try and ban something … then people want to know, what are you trying to cancel?" she said.
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