| Description: | The name Operation Cast Lead was taken from a poem For Hanukkah by the national poet of Israel, Haim Nachman Bialik who died in 1934. It is ironic, and rather macabre, that the name of a military operation which killed so many children in Gaza, should be taken from a poem about a children’s traditional toy: a spinning top made from solid or cast lead (ofert yetzuka) traditionally played with on the joyous holiday of Hanukkah.
Teacher bought a big top for me,
Solid lead, the finest known.
In whose honor, for whose glory?
For Hanukkah alone.
This quilted felted wall hanging was titled "Cast Lead" to express horror about the Israeli war in Gaza, which began on the last day of Hanukkah.
Heidi Drahota, the German artist who made this textile, said: “Women and children suffered most during the military offensive Operation Cast Lead …No protection, no escape place, no bunker, closed borders. Many fled into schools or public buildings. In the Gaza strip 760 people were killed between 27 December 2008 and 8 January 2009. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 42 per cent of the victims were children and women; this means more than 300.”
Cast Lead was first shown at the international exhibition Threads of Destiny: testimonies of violence, hope and survival, in Fürth, Germany, 2009.
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