Al Tafawk Update 28th September 2026
Mona told me about an incident last week involving a woman closely associated with the Center.
At around 6:30pm, the woman was driving a short distance with a female friend and several children in the car.
Without warning, soldiers ambushed the vehicle, shooting at the wheels, banging on the windows and bonnet, and ordering her to stop, which she of course did.
The soldiers forced everyone out of the car. They tore off the woman’s hijab and beat her. They took the car keys and ordered the other woman and the children to walk to their destinations.
They didn’t have far to go, but the driver remained sitting on the pavement until 11pm.
Sadly, incidents like this have become all too common around Jenin.
Mona says that in the past, soldiers were particularly harsh towards men, but generally showed more restraint towards women and children. Now, she says, women are shown no such respect, and children are treated like adults.
She describes the people of Jenin as prisoners in their own city - with soldiers controlling their movements and, in her words, playing with and tormenting them “like animals in a zoo.”
The roads in and out of Jenin are controlled by soldiers through gates that are opened and closed at their discretion. Palestinian drivers fear encountering an army jeep on the road. Mona says the jeeps will deliberately move across the road to obstruct them, and that drivers fear being rammed or even run over.
There is a growing feeling among residents that no one is able - or willing - to help.
The unusual has become usual.
The fields surrounding the city are now out of bounds to Palestinians. Places where people once lived, worked and spent time in nature are now controlled by illegal settlers.
And yet, for a few hours each day at Al Tafawk, the children feel like they are in another world.
There is singing and dancing. The children have a beautiful time. Their homework is always completed, and they arrive clean, tidy and ready to take part.
In the midst of everything happening around them, Al Tafawk gives them somewhere they can simply be children.
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