Sfay village by Hamdan Huraini

Under the hot sun in the summer and in the freezing cold and rain in the winter, students in Masafer Yatta walk a distance of four kilometers to school and back every day.

They take a bumpy and dangerous road with stray wild animals and poisonous snakes.

But they really encounter much more than this; there are military exercises for the Israeli occupation army. They shoot and use tanks for their training. Also, when the Israeli soldiers stop the kids and search through their bags, they are stopped for an hour or more and lose the first portion of the day at school.

Yes, these are the students of Asfi village, which is located in Masafer Yatta, east of Yatta.

Here, in Ismail Badr, I have two students, one of them is in the sixth grade and the other is in the fourth grade. He talks about the suffering he goes through daily. When my children go to school, anxiety and fear dominate me until their return.

I know this area very well, where there are ferocious animals and poisonous snakes, and because of this, I am afraid of losing my children.

**Teaching them otherwise.* There is an occupation army that tightens the noose on us by setting up roadblocks, training, and stopping the children under the sun for hours. In the summer, the temperatures are very high in this area, and in the winter, the road is also very difficult due to torrential rains and the cold weather, but now that there is a new school close to home I don’t have to be afraid or anxious. We were fortunate because the Asfi Basic Mixed School was built inside the village.

However, the joy and hope were not complete, because a few days ago the Civil Administration of the Israeli occupation handed us a notice to demolish the school.

Fear is back. We don't want to lose our children's school. This will negatively affect the children and they may lose their access to education.

Demolishing this school would be the loss of an entire generation, not just a building. The children do not want to return to their previous days of going so far to Al-Majaz School. They do not want to think about the way back when they reach school instead of focusing on their lessons.

“I hope the school will not be demolished.” This was *his* last word before I went back the next day to document the demolition of Asfi's school.

Today, at exactly nine o'clock in the morning, a heavily armed military force accompanied by two bulldozers and the so-called Civil Administration of the Israeli occupation.

*Armed to get out*, children under the age of ten began to close the classroom doors on the students, detained them inside for a while, and fired stun grenades at the people who came to the school for fear of their children. People dispersed, and I saw the students, after firing stun grenades, fleeing from the windows of the classrooms, running in fear and terror of this brutal attack on the young students.

After they took the people and children out by force, they destroyed the school, confiscated the furniture, and took some of the bags

the students.

When he saw a pile of rubble at his school, one of the students said, “I was sitting in my classroom, and the teacher asked me to read the lesson, but suddenly he said stop. The teacher went towards the door, and when he opened the door, I saw soldiers and bulldozers in my school yard. I knew they were going to demolish it because last night I heard my dad talking to someone on the phone and told him that the petition against the demolition was rejected.

I saw my dreams shattered and destroyed, I saw my future passing by, and I don't know what the future is now. I don't know how to complete my studies. I go back to the old school, which is far and very dangerous. I have become afraid and unsafe. If they demolish the school, how do I feel safe?”

There is no safety in Masafer Yatta, but danger surrounds you from every side, as military training takes place in the middle of the villages.

There are roadblocks, demolishing homes and schools. Safety is a strange word, and hearing the word safety has become rare. It will be erased from the dictionary.

This repressive policy towards the indigenous people of Masafer Yatta by the Israeli occupatio