Jenin: A Learning Experience / Ken Gibbs

by Ken Gibbs

The drone woke me at 3 am on Friday morning.

I had never met one before but even as I emerged from sleep, I knew exactly what it was with its insistent propeller’s pitch. It wasn’t simply circling Jenin; it was being manoeuvred to allow its on-board video cameras to keep certain areas under observation with the infra-red viewer. It dived and climbed and turned and soon, I was imagining exactly where it was, some 500 metres above.

I got up and moved to the curtained window to see if I could spy the drone when I heard similar movements from next door. No lights were shown anywhere, and as I opened my door, I saw Larry at his door already fully dressed.

“They have come again;” he said, “and you might want to get dressed. Don’t switch on any lights.” It seemed that Larry Hollingworth had been in similar circumstances before. How on earth had I come to be here, I asked myself ?

*****

I had been asked by the UN to assist in re-establishing water supply and sanitation systems in Jenin following the massive incursion by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in April, 2002; and to suggest how to redesign them on reconstruction.

Perhaps it is worth noting that it is impossible to fly from London directly into an international airport which has direct access to Jenin. In fact, in the West Bank, there is no airport. All entries are totally regulated by Israel that makes the name Palestine have a hollow ring. Arrival in the area is only possible through Tel Aviv where I was met by Israeli immigration authorities with considerable suspicion. They were very polite but wished to portray a sense of menace – which they did most successfully. I showed my UN contract and was finally allowed to pass, with obvious reluctance on their part. It’s possible that they thought that I was an undercover UN War Crimes Investigator; with good reason, following what had happened in Jenin.

My Palestinian UN driver, Ihad, drove me to the office along roads bedecked with Israeli flags; and past cars many of which were flying Israeli flags. The flags, so I was told, were not in support of a soccer team playing in the world cup but, rather, as an expression of solidarity – or nationalism - against the suicide bombers. Nationalism of any sort makes me feel uncomfortable even when the reason appears justified – because so often, mob thinking seems to take over.

The day in Jerusalem was filled with administration and briefing; meeting old friends from the UN and generally trying to get my body-clock ‘in-sync’ with the local time zone. The only impressions I gained on that day were that Tel Aviv is flat and on the Mediterranean; and that Jerusalem is inland somewhat and very hilly, wooded in parts and full of settlements. Oh, yes; and that it is possible to have eggs and bacon for breakfast – an apparent contradiction for Israel or for Palestine. Perhaps my mindset needed some readjustment as well.

*****

The next day started early and we headed for the Jordan Valley since this route was said to be much quicker as it was completely controlled by the Israelis. The road led past Jericho (with walls still intact, I noticed) which we could see about 2 kilometres distant on our left before we turned north and followed the Jordan River. Depending upon which map you inspect, the area through which we travelled could have been West Bank (Palestine) or it could have been without definitive borders shown anywhere. In reality, the road is used as a means of controlling the passage of people from Jordan itself into Palestine. In fact, there is a mine field between the road and the Jordan River as a reminder that it is unwise to try to pass through anything but the Israeli controlled border posts.

While we were booked to stay at Afula which is in Israel proper, and is a kibbutz which has a simple hotel, we wanted to get to Jenin to start the work. Jenin is situated at the northernmost part of the West Bank. To reach it required going through not one, but two Israeli check points which are set up to deter even the most valiant. One has to wait in line and only when invited to advance is one allowed to weave through the concrete blocks to a place where one stops for the scrutiny. One soldier inspects the identity cards while a second aims his anti-tank weapon directly at the car lest we. . . . . well, we were not quite sure why it was felt necessary to point such a weapon at an obviously UN civilian vehicle. Did they expect us to attack them, we wondered ? Or were we suspected of harbouring a suicide bomber ?

The second check point was about 400 metres from the first with no concrete blocks – they just had a strategically placed ‘stinger’ – that row of sharp nails pointing upwards which will puncture any tyre. Here we waited. And waited. And waited. It was quite obvious that the soldiers could see us but they were not inclined to open the check point for us. Later, we discovered that there was no official policy about holding up the UN; it simply was a game which the young soldiers were probably encouraged to play. When they got bored, they let us pass. Little did they know, but two can play at that game.

Entry to Jenin was like entry to any other Middle Eastern town. We were taken round the camp direct to the ‘office’ which was for the time being, in a school. The kids from the school were attending another school, doing double shifts. The reason that we were placed here was because of the anticipated larger UN presence and the fact that the school had been damaged; had no electricity; had had windows blown out and steel doors peppered with large calibre rounds; and the UN had promised to repair it after they had prepared their own office in seven containers but would use it as a convenient base for the first three or four weeks of operations.

Having been introduced to the staff – there were few enough at that time – we proceeded to the walk-about. It was breathtaking.

The incursions had been in search of 50 or so ‘extremists’; 52 people had been killed – 22 of whom were civilians which included a wheel-chair bound handicapped man who had been in the middle of a main road, with a white flag over him. Well over 3,000 people were made homeless, and what was left of their homes was a pile of concrete rubble joined in places by twisted reinforcing bars. It is one thing to wander in and see the trashed remains, but quite another to have lived through the trashing process. The anger that drove this act must have been frightening indeed to see.

We passed slowly into the obliterated area, now called Ground Zero, past pools of raw sewage and past a place where there was a smell of dead flesh. It had been well over ten days since the Israelis had pulled out of Jenin and many bodies had been pulled from the rubble already but nobody, curiously, was digging near this smell. Perhaps people knew that all had been accounted for and that the flesh was more likely to be an animal.

Some people were sitting on blankets in the rubble, still looking dazed. We were told that this recent incursion was by no means the first by the IDF and that each time they came, they looted and destroyed what they couldn’t carry with them – irrespective of whether the family had any connection to a suicide bomber or not. It was so bad that people had taken to burying their valuables under the floor so that the soldiers couldn’t steal them, but when the bulldozers came, they wrecked everything so comprehensively that it was impossible to see where floors had existed before. We even saw one man who hired a JCB to sift through the wreckage in search of his valuables. He was unsuccessful.

A quick walk through the UN run clinic was sobering. Here, mostly women and children were cared for yet the attentions of the IDF were clear to see. Virtually every piece of equipment was vandalised – refrigerators were riddled with bullet holes; scales were bent beyond repair; an autoclave wrecked with a single bullet hole; beds were torn apart; and windows blown out. An estimate of the cost to repair the damage and replace equipment was in the region of US$ 80,000.

I thought it a pity that no Israeli could walk through this area with us under ‘normal circumstances’, to see for himself/herself how this treatment has caused such resentment that it is probably creating twice as many suicide bombers as it is eliminating - like Medusa and her hair of snakes. And the politicians really think that the military option will solve the problem ?

*****

Not being a student of history, my memory of this area is a nice mix of the biblical, the Ottoman Empire, Lawrence of Arabia, The Holocaust, and constant snippets from newspapers as and when tempers flare up in the Middle East. From the little that I think I know, it seems that Moses led the Jews to the Promised Land around 4,000 years ago; the Romans dominated it around 2,000 years ago when Christ was crucified in Jerusalem; then it went all quiet with Jews migrating virtually all over the world perhaps in search of richer pastures, which is where we get the term the ‘Diaspora’.

The Ottomans ruled Palestine from 1516 to the First World War, but even towards the end of this period a strong Jewish return movement had already started following a series of pogroms in Russia between 1880 and 1917. From 1917 to 1948 the Jewish population rose steadily, but after 1948, the floodgates opened. From then onwards, definitive data are hard to establish – and even the Palestinian Authority admits that no census data are available. All that is certain is that Israel – as defined by Israel itself – is overwhelmingly Jewish; and Palestine, overwhelmingly Arab.

Where history ends and what one’s eyes tell you begins, the first and most telling is that Israel controls everything with its military and police. Palestine, on the other hand, has no army. It has no aircraft. It has no tanks. It has no armoured personnel carriers. Palestine’s economy is totally controlled and regulated by Israel. Even areas which are clearly Palestinian and have always been Palestinian or Arab are ‘taken over’ by settlers and settled with permanent housing. The ‘settlements’ are the first and most obvious contentious issue. Once or twice, the Israeli authorities made a token gesture by breaking down a few houses but it seems fair to say that they have condoned virtually every settlement. It thus seems quite reasonable to suppose that Palestinians have seen this continuous erosion of their area and theft of their land as inflammatory and not a little insulting.

If you were in their shoes, what would your reaction be, I wonder ? To stand by and let the Israelis take more and more, unhindered ? And if you wished to protest, what form would your protest take ? A legal challenge, perhaps ? And, as the legal challenge would have to be pursued through the Israeli Courts since the Israelis do not recognise the jurisdiction of Palestinian Courts, is it reasonable to think that this would be a useful avenue to pursue ?

The second and less obvious shackle which has been placed on Palestine is on the economy. Typical photos of Arabs waiting at check points to be allowed access into or out of Palestine mask the fact that no industries are allowed to flourish in Palestine – and that Palestinians are at the same time forced to purchase whatever goods they require, from Israel itself. Even the pace at which the economy is allowed to function is completely regulated by the rate at which goods and people are allowed to pass the check-points. And the seventeen year-olds who man the check-points, are never in a hurry to let people or goods pass.

Perhaps the most telling of all aspects of life in Palestine is the way in which it has been segregated into mini-Bantustans so that Israel can exercise complete control over the Palestinian population. One is led to believe that there are two areas given over to Palestine – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But even the official Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs web page published maps in 2002 that showed how Palestine has been broken up into ‘Palustans’.

*****

Our work was made considerably easier because the local authority – the Jenin Municipality – was both very active and quite capable. I had come expecting to have to train engineers in computerised solutions to hydraulic problems but the Chief Engineer with considerable tact showed me that not only could he perform any such designs himself but that a number of his staff could do the same thing as and when required.

The water supply to the Refugee Camp was restored very quickly and nobody appears to have gone without drinking water – all entirely due to the work of the Municipality and one or two NGOs. The area of Ground Zero had, of necessity, to be isolated to stop leaks; but what its precise future will be, has still to be determined. The sewer pipes – luckily – were sufficiently deep generally to have survived the attentions of the IDF although some replacements were required.

The UN group in Jenin put their heads down and got on with the work. However, the time available to work each day was considerably limited by the behaviour of the soldiers on the check points. For the first few days we arrived at about 7:20am and waited till the check points were opened – usually a wait of 10 to 20 minutes. Then, one morning, we were informed that the check point only opened at 8:00am despite the fact that the IDF Liaison Officer had informed us that these crossing points are open 24 hours a day. So, the next day, we arrived early and got out of the cars and started a loud and lively conversation in the middle of the road as if we realised that we would be there till 8 o’clock at least. We were passed quite quickly; but the next day, this didn’t work. Since we also lost time getting out of Jenin every evening, we decided to move to Jenin itself. A second office-cum-apartment was found and we moved in.

As is usual in such emergencies, the first people to come in are normally drafted in for a few weeks while a longer term plan is developed and suitable staff located. Thus, after two weeks, we were looking at wrapping up our work since we had started what was necessary and made our recommendations; and we had been able to estimate costs for immediate repairs and for the longer-term rehabilitation of the area. It was about six days before I was due to leave when I was woken by the drone.

*****

While I had dressed in a hurry as Larry had suggested, there was nowhere for us to go. We decided to have a cup of tea and while this was being prepared, we heard the helicopters. There were two of them. We thought we could hear tanks as well. The firing started soon afterwards.

One of the NGOs (MSF) had recently moved to an apartment adjacent to the Refugee Camp so Larry phoned them to ask if they were safe. We imagined them lying on the floor answering their phone; but they reassured us that they were safe despite there being a couple of tanks close to their apartment. We promised to phone on the hour, every hour, to see how they were, and they said they’d phone us if and when they had something to report.

We phoned the UN staff to ask them if they were safe and, happily, none was caught in the cross fire at this stage. Later, we went through the whole phone list checking everybody we knew, one by one, which was only possible since nearly everybody used mobile phones that continued to work throughout this period.

At 7am, we decided to inform Jerusalem – where the head office of the UNRWA is located – that another incursion was in progress. Bear in mind that we were sitting away from the windows and well below the parapet lest a stray shell or bullet come our way since we were less than 200 metres from where the tanks had passed, and we expected to be received with dismay or concern. We were not. We were informed that it was Friday, their day off, and the phone number of the duty officer was . . . . . . . . Rather taken aback, we wondered if we could ask the IDF to back off as Friday is the day of prayer ? Nice to know that one’s employer is really concerned for one’s welfare, especially when under fire.

Shortly thereafter everything seemed to happen at once. The BBC World Service and BBC TV World phoned and wanted live interviews. Larry who is well known to the BBC because he always seems to be in the thick of things, agreed. I took the other telephones to the other flat and sat watching the TV. It was rather eerie being able to hear Larry speaking from the other room and a split second later, hearing the same thing on the television itself. Phones rang and I had to field queries while Larry was speaking on air.

DfID (the UK Development Agency) phoned from Jerusalem at about this time to arrange for a visit of one of the UK based staff. We were informed that a programme was required to be worked out for this person for the following Tuesday; and should start at 10 am precisely. Somewhat puzzled by this, I mentioned that there was a war going on outside the window, would it not be better to make some provisional arrangements since we were unsure how long the war would last ? No, apparently that was not good enough. It had to start at 10am on Tuesday. I was sorely tempted to give him the IDF Liaison Officer’s phone number, but felt that it was sufficient to note that if he phoned us from the check point when he arrived, we could be in the office to meet him and conduct him to meet all those he felt it necessary to meet if/when the time came.

During the day, we spoke on the phone to the Governor of Jenin; to the Mayor; to the Chief Engineer; to the UNRWA Liaison Officer in the Refugee Camp itself (who was completely overwhelmed by these events); and to the ICRC staff who, happily, had not been in Jenin at the time. The Chief Engineer had been out attending to a broken main when the troops had arrived, and he had been smartly chased home. He seemed not unduly disturbed by this, perhaps because it was he and his staff who had kept the water supply going in Jenin during the massive April incursion, and they knew what they probably could and could not do.

Also during the day, there was sporadic fighting, and at one time, the fighting moved into the town itself, well away from the Refugee Camp. Several very large explosions followed in which we supposed a building was demolished. All the while, continuously from just after 3am, two helicopters had circled overhead, obviously directing military operations.

At about 3:30pm on Friday afternoon, the noise of the drone tapered off and then stopped. A little while later, the helicopters left and we were informed by MSF that the tanks had pulled out at 4:05pm.

We sat tight until everyone to whom we spoke said that the incursion was over. One of the senior UN local staff phoned to confirm that the incursion was over and when we thought we’d go and inspect the city, he advised caution lest we be stoned for not having stopped the attack in the first instance. We donned flak jackets and helmets and went out tentatively at 4:30pm.

Our reception was unanimously positive. Everyone waved to see a UN vehicle with large blue flag flying in the city almost as soon as the IDF had gone. It seemed that they felt we had been there with them, and so were ‘friends’. This was very important to us since we had been at pains to maintain a presence in both the Camp and the city as a means of reassuring people that something was being done for them. We needed their support if we were to mount a programme that was to be effective.

Startlingly, the Municipal workers were already out on the streets before we arrived, trying to repair electric cabling which had been intentionally destroyed by the latest incursion. A passing tank had apparently lifted its gun to catch the overhead cables and then driven off with the cables still hanging from the gun. Electricity supplies were restored to all areas of the city before midnight.

*****

The “DfID UK based staff member” was a British MP, who eventually visited. I was somewhat bemused as his visit seemed to revolve around his being photographed inspecting the rubble rather than having discussions with people affected and United Nations staff on site. While in Jenin, he handed out many rather handsome House of Commons business cards. This person was eventually awarded a Knighthood for his services to his country.

*****

Plans were being laid for the reconstruction of the Ground Zero and any house damaged during the incursion. It was felt important that the disproportionate response by the IDF be offset by reconstructing all houses damaged or destroyed, free of charge. On this basis, UNRWA sought funding for the programme and, surprisingly, a single donor was found almost immediately willing to fund the whole programme. In this situation, it was estimated that somewhere between $30 and $35 million would be required to re-house the approximately 650 families involved.

Nothing is as simple as it seems at the beginning. Rebuild 650 family homes ? Easy; communal apartment blocks should do the trick. However, all families consulted felt that their circumstances had been constrained by space, and they all wanted a little more space for their families. Unfortunately, one cannot just get more space by building higher since that would suffocate existing houses in the area so, because Ground Zero is a fixed size, there would of necessity be an overspill area. This is where it starts becoming complicated. There is a small area available within the Camp which is very steep indeed and probably unsuitable for building. There is, on the other hand, a suitable flat area adjacent to the Camp but this is not in the ownership of the Municipality. . . . . I need not labour the point.

Perhaps much more complex to deal with, was a rumour that started just before the second incursion while we were there. The rumour suggested that Saddam Hussein was offering every family that had lost a house in the April incursion, a sum of US$ 25,000. What this would have meant was that families that had lost a house would get one rebuilt to a higher specification than before, free of charge, with an additional gift of US$ 25,000. Since we were still in the process of judging which houses should be repaired and which should be demolished, suddenly we had the engineers being threatened at home, that if they didn’t classify lightly damaged houses as being in urgent need of total demolition, then their families would suffer. We had some really quite ugly scenes in the office. The great god “Greed” rears his head in all sorts of places.

During all this time of trying to work out how to proceed, we had the urgent problem of needing to be rid of the rubble in Ground Zero so that the tidy-up could begin. We needed pipes for temporary connections. We needed to pay for the machines which were being used to demolish dangerous buildings. We needed to set up a tented area for those who could not find accommodation elsewhere. All these activities required money – and we had been informed by the UNRWA Executive Director, Peter Hansen, that whatever we needed, we would get. We set up contracts as best we could with the staff we had and the time available.

Then strange things started to happen. Individuals just arrived in UN cars and started to countermand our instructions. We asked who they were and, unsatisfied by their answers, we asked them to leave immediately. This happened not once but three or four times until we pointed out to UNRWA, Jerusalem, that if they were sending people to Jenin for any purpose, it would be nice to be told who was coming, for what purpose, on whose authority, at what time, and with what security clearance. We were told that contracts had to ‘follow the rules’ and that these staff were being sent to ensure that this was the case. However, since the staff universally came to stop the work which Peter Hansen had instructed us to do, and since they declined to spend even one night in Jenin – it must have been far too dangerous for them, one supposes – we thus had to ask the Jerusalem office why these staff had not been sent at the very beginning to help guide us through the bureaucratic minefield of writing contracts if this was so important to them.

We never did receive an answer to this question, but when the need to pay bills had become so urgent that we feared for our own safety, the Chief Cashier was sent up with, as we understood it, all the outstanding cheques for which we had sent all supporting documentation. Our understanding was wrong. He came up with the rule book, knowing that we were leaving on the following day and that we would not have any opportunity to read the 200 or so pages contained in the document. Our incredulity was apparently lost on the Chief Cashier. Naturally, he declined to spend a night in Jenin preferring, one believes, the warmth of his family’s embrace down in Jerusalem.

During this period, UNRWA employed around 29,000 people, over 99% of whom were Palestinian. Judging by events, it would seem that their staff wanted to show that they were significant players in the milieu, but I fear they were rather naïve. Going against the expressed directive of the agency’s Executive Director was tantamount to industrial action likely to bring the United Nations into disrepute. In 2007, the reform of UNRWA began.

*****

It was time to leave. The last check-point was manned by an IDF busybody who decided that he wanted to search our luggage. We declined to let him do so since the rules are quite clear on the matter. They may look, but they may not search inside it. We asked them to check with their commanding officer, as we would check with our security officer. Naturally, we were made to wait for a full hour before being passed through, unsearched. My sentiments concerning these arrogant, ignorant, frightened 17 year-olds were hardened even further. Many of them could have made good use of a bar of soap, as well.

De-briefing was a long and very detailed affair. UNRWA was happy that the work had been done but I suspect was very unhappy about the direct and harsh remarks I made about their administration. Where a UN agency appears to be run by a local mafia such as we had seen with people arriving unannounced and probably without travel authorisations and security clearances, the chances of being able to run a multi-million dollar system of contracts is most likely to be compromised; so the remarks were, I felt, entirely justified. Much of the detailed discussions took place after UNRWA excused themselves as having been too busy to stay longer. Sad that, since they are responsible for water and sanitation in all of the Refugee Camps in the West Bank and Gaza, and it seems probable that Jenin is only the first of many incursions. UNDP, UNICEF and OXFAM were all very concerned about the details, and about what might be the way forward.

*****

I was given one afternoon to see the Old City in Jerusalem. Sadly, while I wandered through all four quarters – the Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian quarters – at every turn, I was met with a surly military presence. The Dome of the Rock was closed to me in any event. I had a camera but didn’t use it for fear that someone might want to use this as an excuse to make my time uncomfortable. It’s a pity because the place has endless photographic possibilities.

The Old City was indescribably filthy probably because it was the end of a day of trading for most, but I was sad indeed to see it so degraded. Looking at the street signs, I came across the ‘Via Dolorosa’ and was almost run over by a car. That path has come some way since Jesus walked it those many years ago. I decided against visiting the Holy Sepulchre since the bazaar appeared to be closing, opting instead for a visit to the ‘Gordon Tomb’.

The ‘Gordon Tomb’ or ‘Garden Tomb’ as it is known to some, lies just outside the walled Old City and is walled itself. Stepping out of the heat and dust and filth that is characteristic of much of the Old City, into the area encompassed by the walls surrounding the Gordon Tomb, is like moving from a hot hell into a cool Amazon forest. The whole area around the tomb is beautifully cared for – by an English charity, so I was informed – and quiet and peaceful. Gordon believed that the area in which this tomb was located had been in a rich man’s olive grove (Joseph of Arimathea ?) and that the crucifixion had probably taken place next to the quarry which was beside the road to Bethlehem overlooking Herod’s Gate into the Old City, and that the Hill of the Skull, Golgotha, was between Herod’s Gate and the tomb. All these locations are within short distances of each other and the claim is quite compelling, particularly when one can stand and look at Herod’s Gate, the quarry, Golgotha and the tomb at the same time. Naturally, the place attracts pilgrims.

*****

My departure the following day required much the same grilling as I had received on arrival more particularly because I gave a truthful reply to my whereabouts over the last three to four weeks. Anyone associated with Jenin was the subject of intense interest. However, when I was asked if I was coming back again, I replied, “Probably not.” This seemed to clear the way for me to pass through into the departure lounge without further delays.

Visiting this part of the Middle East is indeed a learning experience.

*****

Larry Hollingworth was replaced as UN Field Coordinator by Iain Hook some time in June, 2002. On November 22nd, 2002, Ian Hook was killed allegedly by an IDF sniper while standing inside the UN Compound in Jenin. The details are summarised in the Wikipedia article on him.

Click here to read more articles by Ken Gibbs