Jenin in pictures

Dec. 4, 2008

There's lots going on today. Hebron is about to boil over into civil war (Jewish settlers vs. Israeli army); Israel will go ahead and attack Iran without US permission if they want; and assurances are coming out of DC and Jerusalem that Obama and Netanyahu would work great together, contrary to suspicions that they'd butt heads over policy and final status negotiations.

But first, here's some photos and facts from my trip to Jenin:

The city has been synonymous through the intifada as a hotbed of terrorism. Indeed, Gov. Qadoura Mousa spent 12 years in Israeli prisons presumably for terrorist activities and was the head of Fatah's armed wing under Yasser Arafat. He is an appointee to the position.
The refugee camp is right in the middle of the city, in the valley, surrounded by the entire town. About 40,000 people live in the city with more than 200,000 including suburbs. Part of the camp has so far been rebuilt with money from the Emirates, while the other part still languishes with decrepit housing, posters of martyrs and litter-strewn streets. You can see it from this hilltop.

Israel invaded the Jenin refugee camp in 2002 because it was believed to be one the primary places where bombs were being manufactured for use in terror attacks against Israelis. When Israel went in, reports began to circulate and got widespread coverage of a massacre by Israel of the Palestinians. Thousands dead. In the end, the final death toll was confirmed at 52 to 56 Palestinians – anywhere between 5 and 26 of whom were estimated to have been civilians – while 23 IDF soldiers were killed as well. Israel met with severe opposition by armed gunmen. The bomb from a 2002 suicide bombing in which 17 people were killed and 42 wounded, came from an explosives laboratory in this very camp.In 2002, the army also found a number of mortar shells, homemade grenades, and bullets in a building, and another explosives factory in a cave there along with Israeli army uniforms, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the middle of the camp is a symbol of the long and painful memories: a metal horse made from parts of cars and ambulances destroyed during the Israel invasion in 2002.