We went to visit Huda’s Kindergartden again with a huge cooking pot, equipment for children such as plasticine, paints, drawing pages and a granddaughter.
Passing through the Meitar checkpoint was normal, many cars in the parking lot, a routine of the occupation.
I asked Aya to write the report because I wanted to know how it looks to eyes that are not used to the occupation and this is the first time for them to encounter and experience what we are already used to.

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Aya’s report

Huda’s Kindergarten, Khashem a-Darej

I went with Grandma Ariela and Muhammad to their shift in the south of Mount Hebron, this time to Huda’s Kindergarten in

Khashem al-Darej. This is my first visit to the area and as soon as I saw the view of the hills after crossing, I could easily distinguish it from the Israeli Negev landscape. Palestinian villages and settlements can also be seen in the Negev which are built in a shabby way in relation to the Jewish settlements, but in the area of the hills along road 317 the feeling is the same.

You see the Jewish outposts and farms being built right between the Palestinian villages and thus isolating them until they give up and leave.

(Sha’b al Butum which is sandwiched between Abigail and Mitzpe Yair or a the Ma’on farm which is right on the road Between Tuba and A-Tuwani). The reality in the South Hebron Hills area speaks of the policy of which I had only heard before this visit, the creation of Palestinian enclaves within a completely Israeli space.

Throughout the visit we did not see any military presence in the area, which strengthened the feeling of a normative Israeli space that naturally continues until reaching the green line. It is the Palestinian cities and villages that appear to the visitor as exceptions in the area.

On the way to Huda’s kindergarten we passed through Khashem al-Karm and, on the side of the road, we saw an elementary school built with light construction.

Muhammad said that there is a demolition order for the school because it was built with donations that were not part of the outline prepared by the army which had not allocated a place for an elementary school in the plan. The salaries of the school teachers are financed by the Palestinian Aauthority. Huda’s kindergarten, on the other hand, began as a building of one room and has since developed from donations 6 years ago within the outline plan of the village.

As soon as the car entered the parking lot, all the children wanted to greet us and waved at us excitedly. I could hardly get out out of the car because of the many smiling children who were clinging to the doors We gave a high five and as we said hello to the children, I asked each one their name. We had brought packs of coloured plasticine with us so I played with the children showed them how to use it.

The kindergarten teacher was enthusiastic and grandmother said she had never seen her so excited during the activity. Little by little the children became more creative with the material, and I became very much a part of them.

It is evident that the group of children is a very mixed one and some of them suffer from a certain developmental problem which must also make it difficult.

I was terribly sorry that my Arabic is not good enough to communicate naturally with the children and the teachers.  The language barrier made me feel like we were very far apart even though they live an hour away from my house.

Only now is the kindergarten starting to be equipped with supplies and equipment to prepare a hot meal for the children at noon. The situation is that some children cannot even bring a light meal from home. In addition to basic groceries Huda needs to get an electric plate with which to cook the meal. Even for the graduation party, Huda asked that we bring print photographs of the children and graduation certificates.

When we left the kindergarten, on the road leaving the village, a Palestinian car drove in front of us with an inscription in Arabic calligraphy and underneath it was written in Hebrew: There is no luck in life – there is no faith in friends.

Even though during the shift we did not see anything unusual, this message sums up the residents’ experience in Masafer Yaffa and the fact that you can’t help but wonder how many of those children in the kindergarten will turn 18.