Al Tafawk Update 29th August 2026

Two days before Graduation day at Al Tafawk, soldiers prevented two of the teachers and a group of 16 children from getting to the Kindergarten. As there was no fuel to be bought for the minibus they were making the dangerous journey on foot when a group of about 14 armed Israeli soldiers stopped them on the street. They were all held there for several hours, sitting in the hot sun. 

The soldiers spoke in several different languages. Some of the words were incomprehensible to those being held, but they understood the laughter. They knew it was being directed at them. 

The soldiers immediately took and searched their mobile phones. Because of this, the teachers are careful about what they keep on them, making sure their phones contain little more than photographs of their families and the children they teach. 

The teachers were asked “Why do you do this, this is a bad job?” When trying to explain that they were simply caring for and educating children - they were told to shut up. They were told they were terrorists. They were called evil and were accused of educating children to become terrorists. When they continued to argue, they were hit, on the shoulders and around the face and head. They have learned that the safest response is often to remain quiet and endure the beating, that speaking out can make things worse, but that is difficult in the face of such accusations. 

Then the two female teachers were searched by the male soldiers, in the middle of the street. They were touched all over their bodies and forced to remove their bras. 

There is a terrible calculation involved in every interaction - either do exactly as you are told, or risk being beaten - or worse - and then have the soldiers say that you attacked them. 

All the while, the children were sitting close by. If one of them made a sound, the soldiers would hit them on the back of the head. 

The teachers tried to find a way to keep the children calm. They turned the situation into a game - Who can be the quietest? Who can be the strongest? There will be a prize. 

They told the children not to be afraid. Not to be scared. In spite of pleading with the soldiers to be allowed to use the toilet, permission was refused, resulting in five of them wetting themselves. 

Eventually, exasperated with their noise and fidgeting, the soldiers ordered the children to go, while the teachers were kept behind. 

These children are only nursery age, between the ages of 2 1⁄2 and 6 years old. They scattered towards their homes, frightened and separated from the adults who had been caring for them. It is difficult to imagine the fear of a child that young, having endured and seen the events that morning, being sent away alone. 

But the children had been prepared for this. 

Each one carries a small piece of paper in their pocket with their name and a telephone number for their family. They have been taught what to do if they become separated - find another Palestinian and ask for help. Somehow they will find their way home, and on this day, they all did. 

Meanwhile, other teachers took responsibility for the children who had managed to reach Al Tafawk Center. The Kindergarten operated as usual, though that day with fewer children and teachers than normal. 

For all these teachers and children, even a relatively short journey across the city is difficult and dangerous, all the more so on foot. Movement is unpredictable, with gates, roadblocks and checkpoints creating constant obstacles. 

But finding fuel for the Kindergarten’s minibus is becoming more and more difficult. Fuel is being brought in from other cities, but because Israel controls the flow of fuel into the West Bank, access to it becomes another way of restricting Palestinian movement. 

For the children and teachers, getting to school should be an ordinary part of the day. Instead, even the journey there can become an experience of fear, humiliation and uncertainty. But they persevere, refusing to let fear and intimidation take away their determination to learn, teach and care for one another - a quiet but powerful act of resilience in the face of everything they are forced to endure.

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