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Inside Jenin

Photography by Gary Moore

In April 2002 Jenin's refugee camp was the site of one of the most controversial battles of "Operation Defensive" Shield.
The battle itself drew enormous international attention, especially as Israel sealed off the area to journalists and many media sources reported that a massacre of Palestinians had taken place during the fighting.
Allegations about hundreds of deaths were later proven false and the actual number of Palestinians killed was estimated by a United Nations report to be 52 (of whom Human Right Watch concluded that 22 were civilians as well as 23 Israeli soldiers.
A section of the camp was destroyed during the fighting.

From the beginning of March until the first week in May 2002, there were approximately 16 bombings in Israel, mostly suicide attacks.
More than 100 persons were killed and scores wounded. 18 Israelis were killed in two separate Palestinian attacks on March 8 and 9, and a terrorist attack in Netanya killed 28 and injured 140 on March 29.
Of some 100 bombers who carried out suicide attacks since the intifada began in October 2000, 23 or 28 were from Jenin depending on the source. It was dubbed "The suicide capital of the world"

The introduction of the heavily armored bulldozers, which shrugged off explosives and RPGs alike and the threat of being buried alive, the Palestinian militants surrendered.
Later, IDF forces withdrew gradually from the refugee camp under international pressure.

After the conflict Israeli reports claim that 8-9% of the houses within the refugee camp were destroyed.
This was largely within an area of intense fighting of approximately 100m by 100m according to the IDF.
An area within the refugee camp, 100m by 200m according to some (up to 400m by 500m by other estimates was reported to have been flattened.

This is what our Real World Image photographer had to say about those days:

"With the help of some information from a doctor at the Salem roadblock and with the help of some savvy Palestinian's from Ateibe we were able to get in to Jenin a few days after the Battle.
Our first attempt by car via dirt road proved fruitless. We were stopped by two gun pointing IDF soldiers in an armoured vehicle wearing balacalvas and Oakley sunglasses.
These soldiers don't f**k around, they are known to shoot first and ask questions later, especially during this very dangerous time, everyone was on edge. It was a very tense start to our day. "

"Our next attempt meant leaving our rental vehicle with our new friends and running across the heavily guarded "green zone" a line that divides the occupied territories from the Jewish state."

"We made it to the other side using olive trees as cover, it was like stepping back into biblical times, very surreal. A makeshift cab driven by a sweaty and very nervous Palestinian, drove us for about an hour down windy dirt roads until we made it to the edge of the refugee camp."

"There was utter chaos. The IDF had bulldozed the one road in and out through the back of the camp and people were scrambling everywhere with boxes and clothes . You could see Israeli tanks on the hills in the distance surrounding the camp.
A Palestinian doctor met us at the entrance to the village and was to become our tour guide through the devastated Jenin."

"There are 30 bodies buried there!" the unidentified doctor stated pointing to a fresh pile of earth with makesift headstones.

"The doctor then led us down through the center of the Jenin refugee camp. The Israeli Defense Force had bulldozed the center due to entrenched militants and booby trapped bombs. You're never quite sure who to believe in war, there are no rules governing propoganda".
"The photographs I took that day were merely snapshots, flashes, glimpses into a much deeper, sadder picture not just between Israeli's and Palestinians but everywhere where war is being waged. The cycle of violence, the revenge mentality, continues with every brother, mother, sister killed, whether it;s from a suicide bomber or an Israeli missle. War will always play a part in our lives and the photo of the boy with the sign reinstates that fact. He is our future".

Visit: www.digitalvillageproductions.com for a short film on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.