Sydney Brothers Aim to Revitalize Surf Lifesaving in Conflict-Ridden Gaza for Community Safety and Unity

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When Australian Palestinian man Shamikh Badra formed the Northern Beaches Committee for Palestine, he had one mission — to bring a Nippers program to Gaza.

Around eight years ago, he hoped the classic Australian beach education program for younger children could be taken to Gaza’s 45km shoreline, to offer kids there a fun and educational preparation to become future lifesavers.

“We hope to build the first surfing club in Gaza — an Australian-Palestinian surfing club,” Shamikh told SBS Arabic, explaining his intentions when starting the club.

“Our goal is to inspire hope in the children of Gaza and beyond,” say Shamikh and Majed Badra, the filmmakers behind a poignant documentary chronicling the journey of Gaza’s pioneering surf lifesaving club.

Two men taking a selfie under umbrellas while participating in a rainy street protest, with a crowd and city buildings in the background.

The project took root in 2017 with the initial aim of delivering surf lifesaving gear to Gaza. However, as time passed, their ambitions grew significantly.

By mid-2023, their efforts culminated in the launch of the inaugural season of the Gaza Nippers, marking a significant milestone for the initiative.

A joyful group of children and an adult instructor in the ocean waves on a sunny day, with the children wearing matching black and orange surf tops.

Some of the children involved in the Gaza Nippers program have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 2023. Source: Supplied

It had only been running for two months before Israel’s response to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks brought it to an abrupt close.

‘Children are not numbers’

Israel’s assault on Gaza dealt a devastating blow to the program, with some of the children and staff members killed by Israeli airstrikes. The location of others remains unknown.

Shamikh estimates about 12 children and six team members from the program have been killed, but with severely damaged health and communications infrastructure in the occupied territory, he can’t be sure.

As the Israeli bombardment continued, Shamikh, who had had some previous film experience, decided he needed to document what was happening.

He enlisted the help of his brother, Majed Badra, who became the director of the film Gaza Nippers: Hope Amid Devastation.

It was first screened at the North Steyne Surf Lifesavers Club earlier this year, and the brothers have plans to show it across Australia and around the world.

A wide-angle photograph of a large, diverse group of people looking towards a person speaking at a podium.

Gaza Nippers: Hope Amid Devastation was also screened in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba in September. Source: Supplied

For Majed, children’s voices were the cornerstone of the film.

“In the beginning, I was focusing on one child because the message of this is that children are not numbers. They are people. They have a future. They have dreams,” Majed said.

“We wanted to focus on that — to focus on one child as an example of many children.”

But the director had a problem — more than once the children at the film’s centre, and their families, were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

“We had to rewrite and re-edit again and again in order to make the film and raise the voice of other children,” Majed said. “It was very challenging.”

“The goal of this film is to focus on non-elite voices in order to raise their voices, raise the voices of children and victims.”

Some who featured in the final cut of the film were killed as well.

They are among the over 20,000 children killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Save the Children, almost 30 per cent of the 68,229 the Gaza health ministry reports as killed in that period.

‘We will never give up’

Despite the losses they have experienced, Shamikh and Majed aren’t giving up on their dream.

“We will continue this project. We will never give up on supporting the children,” Shamikh said.

“We want all the people to be in unity against targeting the children during the war.”

A group of children and one adult stand in the ocean surf on a bright, sunny day. The children are wearing matching orange shirts and are waving two flags: a Palestinian flag and Aboriginal Australian flag.

Shamikh Badra hopes to one day revive the Gaza Surf Life Saving Club. Source: Supplied

An independent United Nations Commission that declared in late September that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza partly based its assessment on “the intentional and direct targeting of children during military operations”.

A March UN commission found Israel’s Gaza war methods, “including the targeting of residential buildings and the indiscriminate use of heavy explosives in densely populated areas”, had led to “disproportionate violence against women and children”.

The Israeli government has categorically denied the accusation of genocide and has said it regrets harm to civilians killed in attacks targeting militants and their equipment and infrastructure.

Hope for surf club remains

Shamikh intends to continue to work on the Nippers programme and still plans to build the first surfing club in Gaza.

“We know it’s not easy, but we will continue,” Shamikh said.

For Majed — who plans to make a second film to include the voices of other children who weren’t included in the first — a focus on hope amid devastation was key.

“Despite all the challenges and tragic and miserable situation that’s happening, we still have hope,” he said.

“In the title — Gaza Nippers: Hope Amid Devastation — we insisted that hope was in there, because we will build the surfing club in Gaza.”

— This article was produced in collaboration with SBS Arabic