The kindergarten caught in the controversy has come out to defend itself, stating that the students were taking part in a play depicting the Palestinian-Isreali conflict, according to the New Straits Times.

Tadika Hidayah Bestari’s headmistress, who did not want to be named, said the play was held in 2014, together with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (Mapim), which is a non-governmental organisation.

The headmistress clarified that parents who attended the play donated money to Mapim, which was raising funds for war victims in Syria and Palestine.

She added that some of their plays involved the environment and the pre-schoolers wore costumes depicting plants and animals.

The pictures that went viral on social media showed students dressed in military costumes holding toy guns because they were re-enacting the situation in Palestine, the headmistress told the New Straits Times.

The headmistress added that the teacher who uploaded the pictures was no longer working in the kindergarten.

Yesterday, lawyer and activist Siti Kassim commented on her Facebook that she was extremely disturbed by the pictures of children carrying toy guns and asked the authorities to take action.

The daily reported that Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar would ask his men to look into the matter to determine what had transpired.