JENIN, Palestinian Territories — Weeks of
raids on Jenin by
Israeli occupation forces has filled residents of the Jenin
refugee camp with fear and anxiety, and a longing to “live in dignity”.
اضافة اعلان
Israeli forces have been raiding the Jenin area time
and time again since late March, with often deadly consequences for
Palestinians.
“We sleep and wake to the sound of clashes, so we
are worried and afraid,” said 16-year-old Majd Owis.
“This is not a life. We want to live in dignity and peace,”
added artist Fidaa Sammar.
Mother of three Ahlam Benara said for weeks most of
the Israeli raids, and ensuing clashes with Palestinians, have erupted in the
early morning hours. “Between 7:30 and 8:30am,” just when she has to prepare
her children for school. “My eight-year-old says he no longer wants to go to
school because it’s located near the main road,” which Israeli military
vehicles use, she added.
Israel captured the
West Bank from Jordan during the
1967 Arab-Israeli War and controls all entry points to the territory. About
475,000 Israelis live in illegal West Bank settlements, alongside 2.9 million
Palestinians — 14,000 of whom live in Jenin camp. During the Second Intifada
against Israeli occupation, an uprising that broke out in 2000 and lasted five
years, Jenin was in the spotlight of violence.
Fear and ‘painful’ stories
In 2002, Israeli forces
besieged the
Jenin camp for more than a month amid fierce fighting that killed
52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers. Twenty years later, portraits of the
Palestinians killed cover drab grey cement walls in the camp, where residents
consider them “heroes” while Israel brands them “terrorists”.
Israeli occupation
forces say they have launched operations in Jenin camp to arrest suspects
responsible for the wave of anti-Israeli attacks since March 22. The raids
spark clashes with Palestinians punctuated by heavy gunfire. “Sometimes I have
to turn the volume on the TV high to drown out the sound because it scares my
(10-year-old) daughter,” said Benara. “She has not been sleeping well” and
lately began wetting her bed, she added.
Owis, the
16-year-old, lives near the street where
Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli
raid on May 11. Outside his house stands a tree, now surrounded by flowers and
portraits of the well-respected Al Jazeera journalist. Mourners have also left
messages of farewell such as “thank you Shireen” and “goodbye Shireen”. There
are also drawings of her and other Palestinian “martyrs”, including the late
iconic leader Yasser Arafat, on easels.
Dark paint or
charcoal were used for the drawings, “to show (our) sadness”, said Sammar, the
artist who made them. “Every home (in Jenin) has its own sad and painful
story,” she said, referring to residents killed in decades of violence. “The situation
is frightening. We wake up to the sounds of gunfire and fear grows that Israeli
tanks will roll in,” she said. Like most Palestinians, Sammar blames the
Israeli forces for the violence saying Palestinians confronting them are merely
“resisting” occupation.
Benara, who was
born in
Algeria, said she would like to leave Jenin for the sake of her
children.
“But my (Palestinian) husband says to me: “’This is life, we have to get
used to it’. But I just can’t.”
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