Purim of Miracles: This is what life looks like for a rescued woman two years after her rescue from Tulkarm

March 13, 2025   

Two years ago, on the eve of Purim, a complex operation to rescue four children from a Palestinian village and return them to their mother, Liraz (not her real name), ended after a long struggle with their father. The operation took place after Liraz herself fled the village many months earlier, and after rehabilitating herself, she turned to the Yad Laachim organization to help her return the children who remained with their father. These days, she is celebrating two years since the children were taken out and a new relationship with a Jewish partner. Liraz, who was born to a Jewish mother and an Arab father, grew up in boarding schools, and in her youth she married an Arab and moved to live with him in Tulkarm. Over the years, she experienced severe violence at the hands of him, until finally, after her mother died, she decided to flee alone from a village near Tulkarm, destitute. In the first weeks after fleeing the village, she lived alone on the streets, until she slowly managed to rehabilitate herself. All this time, Liraz maintained contact with her children. In her phone calls with them, she would hear them say in Arabic, "We need to kill the Jews," which reinforced her understanding that she had to get them out of there. After about two years of rebuilding her life, Liraz turned to the Yad L'Achim organization to ask them to help her return her children to her. The custody battle was long and complicated, with the father refusing to sign documents allowing the children to leave the village. In addition, at a certain point, after they had already been transferred to the mother's custody, the father kidnapped some of the children. After hours of nerve-wracking, and under heavy pressure, the organization's members succeeded in returning the children to their mother. Today, two years after the incident, the children are being educated in religious settings, and Liraz herself is growing stronger and closer to Judaism and is about to marry a Jewish partner. Liraz is celebrating the upcoming Purim holiday, and she is celebrating with a sense of victory - for leaving the village, returning the children, and for the journey and rehabilitation she took to get there. "Even though we dress up on Purim, we must not forget the women who dress up all year long, and only want to return to their homes," the Yad L'Achim organization reminds us.