Each morning in Hebron, the sounds of school children fill the neighborhoods near checkpoints Qitoun, Al-Salaymeh, and 56. The sound of their small footsteps echoes through the narrow streets that are lined with checkpoints and the watchtowers that hover over them like an eagle hovering over its prey. Children’s families pray in the morning before sending their children off to face armed soldiers and metal gates. Their backpacks carry not only books, but also the weight of fear and trauma.
We remember the children who walk these paths every day, we remember the smiles that shrink smaller the closer they come to the gates. We remember the families that stand in window frames watching, hoping their children will cross safely. We remember the teachers who open their classroom doors determined to prove that learning can be stronger than fear. We remember the cold early mornings and the lasers pointed at us as we stand to watch over the children’s shoulders.
For decades, these streets have borne witness to children’s tears, laughter, fear and, most importantly, courage. For decades, soldiers have come and gone, shifts have swapped, captains have alternated, and policies have changed, yet their oppressive violence has stayed the same. These children choose to wake up, walk, play, learn, and dream, even when the world tells them they cannot.
We hold in our hearts every child that hesitates to walk further every time they approach a checkpoint. We carry in our hearts every little one that cries when a soldier shouts at them, and the older ones who pretend they’re not afraid. We hold in our hearts those who stand in guidance, those who stand as protectors. We hold in our hearts their families, their neighbors, their teachers, and those who stand watching, waiting for any sign, to provide help.
May these children someday grow up to feel safe. May these children grow to know how much their courage matters. May these gates that confine them turn into doors that open to their bright futures.
May the streets they walk through every day echo with the sounds of safety and laughter instead of shouted demands to drop their bags.
We ask you to pray for the strength to walk alongside them.
We ask you to pray for the wisdom in all our hearts to speak the truth when silence seems so much easier.
We ask you to pray for a finer reality, and for a safer life.
May the path to learning become easy, and may Palestine one day be free.
