Did You Know There Are Canadians in Jenin?

I have dealt many times with "Dayton Force", that American effort to calm Jenin and thereby prove the Pals. capable of handling their own security which would then facilitate American pressure on Israel to withdraw.

Little did I know there are Canadians involved:

With the help of U.S. and Canadian military officers, that's exactly what the Palestinian forces in Jenin have been doing.

But there are complaints:

But all too often, twice in the past week alone, Israel troops have carried out night-time raids. “I was notified Saturday afternoon that special [Israeli] units would be operating in the town that night,” said Colonel Radi Asedeh, the area commander of 2,000 Palestinian police and security forces. “I pulled my men out of the field,” he said. “I couldn't risk there being a clash.”

Three nights later they struck again, entering houses in Jenin and the nearby village of Qabatiya, apparently taking someone into custody and seizing a computer.

“Sometimes, they don't do anything but drive around,” Col. Asedeh said. “They only want to embarrass us.”

And the Canadian commander sides with the Pals.:

“There's no doubt these Israeli operations erode the people's respect for the PA forces,” said Colonel Chris Simonds, the commanding officer of a Canadian contingent of nine in the U.S. Security Co-ordinator's mission, headed by U.S. General Keith Dayton.

That is history. “In the past year, not one bullet has been fired out of Jenin,” Col. Asedeh said.

[not one. of course, normalization is also off the agenda. and we have people like these: The Salim Israeli Military Court sentenced on Thursday detainee Nawal Al Sa’ady, from the Jenin refugee camp, to six months imprisonment and two thousands Israeli shekel fine....Ten of her family members, including her husband, Bassam, are already imprisoned by Israel. Her husband is one of the leaders of the Islamic Jihad; he is imprisoned without charges.]

Asked how he felt about help from the Dayton team, the 53-year-old commander folded his arms across his chest and said: “We're not embarrassed about our relationship with Gen. Dayton. We're grateful for the help.”

Col. Simonds, 50, a native of Kingston, explained that the Dayton group of 16 Americans, nine Canadians, three Britons and one Turk put the first battalion of 600 Palestinian presidential guards through a 19-week policing course in Jordan, provided further specialized training and sent the men into Jenin last May.

And they expect "progress"

As the success is solidified, the next battalions to graduate will be dispatched to other West Bank towns controlled by the Palestinian Authority, Col. Simonds said. “I expect the next group will go to Hebron.”

“Our goal is to assist the PA in carrying out its obligations under the road map,” explained Col. Simonds, the latest in a long line of Simonds to be officers in the Canadian forces.

“The Israelis won't allow the Palestinians to have an army,” he said, “so even though the security forces are structured like an army, they're not trained or equipped like an army. They're more like a gendarmerie.”

They have received training in urban patrolling, he said, “similar to what Canadian forces receive before going into Afghanistan.”

For their part, the Israelis did remove two nearby Israeli settlements in 2005 – part of the unilateral disengagement ordered by former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon that included the removal of Israelis from Gaza – and two more Israeli settlements to the south of Jenin.

But a watchful eye is kept focused:

The Israelis already insist on a curfew on Palestinian forces from midnight to 4 a.m., Col. Simonds said. But the army's incursions go even further. “Almost every night they conduct raids somewhere in Area A,” the Canadian commander said, referring to the area supposedly controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

“I understand the Israeli concerns,” Col. Simonds said. “They get information on what might be a terrorist plan and they have to act.”

“It would be better, though, if they gave the information to the PA and let them handle things,” he said. “But they're not willing to do this, at least not yet.”