Jenat’s Stolen Childhood: The Girl Who Only Wants to See Again
In Beit Einun, in eastern Hebron, eight-year-old Jenat Fisal Al-Motawer was preparing for a new school year. With her small backpack on her shoulders and dreams of becoming a teacher, she was an outstanding student, loved by her classmates, and the laughter and hope of her family’s home.
But all of that ended in an instant.
One ordinary day, Israeli forces entered the area around her family’s home. Bullets were fired toward the houses. One of them shattered the window of Jenat’s room, sending glass splinters into her small face.
The shards caused severe injuries to her eyes. Jenat lost all sight in her left eye, while her right eye was left badly damaged.
Since that moment, Jenat’s life has been turned upside down. She is no longer the child who ran to school, played in the yard, or laughed with her siblings. Instead, her days have become a cycle of medical appointments, moving between hospitals in Hebron, then Ramallah, and even Jordan, all in the hope of regaining some of her vision.
Her mother recalls: “She used to wake me up early every morning just so she could go to school ahead of time. She loved learning, she loved life… and today, all she wishes is to see my face again.”
At an age when she should be enjoying the innocence of childhood, Jenat is enduring a pain no child should ever know. She recognizes the names of doctors more than those of her friends, and her only dream is to see the light once again.
Yet despite everything, Jenat clings to hope. “I just want to see again… to play again, and go back to school like before,” she whispers, holding her mother’s hand tightly, as if holding onto the life she remembers.
Jenat’s story is not only a personal tragedy but also a reflection of a grim reality faced by Palestinian children every day—where innocence and basic rights are stolen under occupation and violence.
Today, she urgently needs delicate surgeries and a chance at a new life. What she asks for is simple: the human solidarity that every child deserves, and the opportunity to see the world again, just like any other child.
