Jews in Jenin?

Well, in 1888, the Reverend James Kean was in Jenin * and in his 1893 book, "Among the Holy Places", p. 214-215 we can read this:

There were Jews there in various historical periods:

First called Gina, a site of a battle between Egypt and Het, it is mentioned twice in the Amarna Letters.  It became a Levite city, Ein-Ganim, as recorded in Joshua 19:21.  Ishtori Ha-Parhi, who lived in the Eretz-Yisrael in the first quarter of the 14th century, mentions Jenin (Chapt. 11).  Josephus (Wars 3:4) notes that "Now as to the country of Samaria, it lies between Judea and Galilee; it begins at a village that is in the great plain called Ginea (or Ginia)" and Ginai is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud (Shekalim 7:2).  Jews resided in Jenin during the 16^th & 17^th centuries.  In 1583, the Polish-Lithuanian Prince Nicholas Christopher Radziwill of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania toured the country and noted Jews as living there as possibly did a French doctor, Gabriel le Bremond, who was at Tanin which was a misspelling of Jenin in 1643.  Rabbi Yosef Matrani of Jerusalem had visited the Jewish community there on visits in 1593 and 1602. In 1885, a Jewish blacksmith was in the town and in 1889, a Jewish tailor and two brothers who conducted business in grains loved there.  In 1888, a Jewish shoemaker was in Jenin.

In 1891, the "For Zion" society's representative, Mordechai Edelman, purchased property and land there and eight Jewish familes arrived to take up residence, together with a ritual slaughterer and a melamed.  However, an outbreak of an infectious disease the following year caused them to flee to a healthier location.

During the Mandate period, Jews worked in the area on the main road development as well as an army camp during 1921-1922 and lived at a site near the town and when its Tegart police station was built, 1939-1941, some 70 Jewish construction workers lived by the town (in previous years, Jewish policemen were based there at the previous station house such as Yosef Hirsch and Yosef Mabati). On January 27, 1922, Masha and Eliezer Perlson were married the workers' camp outside Jenin.  In 1929, two Jewish families joined, Goldstein and Lieber, joined the husbands who were policemen and they were extracted from the town when the riots broke out in August.

In the 1931 British census, four (or 2) Jewish residents were counted (in 1922, there were 7) and in 1936, Ladislas Farago, in his book, notes on p. 22 that 7 Jews were living there among 2500 Arabs. By the way, that census counted 3 Jews (2 males and a female) in Khan Yunis, 1 in Gaza, 1 in Majdal, 2 in Yibne, 5 in Beer Sheba, 28 in Lydda, 5 in Ramle, 135 in Hebron, 1 in Bet Jala, 39 in Bethlehem, etc.

Oh, between 1948 - 1967, there were no Jews in or near Jenin.  

Why?

Arabs ruled the area.

____________

*

Here's a mention of Shiloh, which was desolate at the time:

Based on
עין גנים, ההיסטוריה היהודית בג'נין
מאת אהרן אורבך ועמיחי מרחביה
ירושלים, התשס"ה

^

This Wouldn't Be 'Guerrilla Theater' Now, Would It?

Palestinian theatre offers youths a breath of freedom

JENIN, West Bank (AFP) — ...Bisam is among some 200 Palestinian youths who manage to escape the stifling atmosphere of their home in the northern West Bank town of Jenin by taking part in a project called The Freedom Theatre. In addition to an actual theatre that puts on productions for the locals, the project also includes access to computers, books, CDs and DVDs.

"The children love it," says Nabil al-Rai, a 32-year-old actor and director of the theatre that stands at the end of a tiny alley amid the dusty, poverty-plagued streets of the Jenin refugee camp.

"Here, they can feel free."

Feeling free when you live in Jenin is no small feat.

The town of 39,000 lies nestled in the hills of breathtaking beauty that belie the ever-tightening grip of the 42-year Israeli occupation.

Drive just five kilometres (three miles) to the north and you run into an Israeli army checkpoint that prevents West Bankers without special permits from entering Israel. The permits are nearly impossible to get.

Go 10 kilometres west and the way is blocked by Israel's security barrier as it reaches deep inside Palestinian territory walling off a Jewish settlement.

Wander 13 kilometres to the east and the barrier cuts off any access to the flower-dotted hills with majestic views on the Jordan Valley.

The sandy beaches of the Mediterranean are an hour's drive away, but they may as well be on the moon as far as the children of Jenin are concerned..."The children here cannot go to the sea, even to the Dead Sea... They are in a big prison," al-Rai says.

This is so anachronistic, wrong and stupid.

Even before 1967 the Jeninites (?) couldn't go north or west either. South, yes but they had to detour around West Jerusalem.

But let's get back to the theater:

But on the stage, there are no permits and no restrictions. "The whole idea is to have freedom through threatre," says al-Rai. "To think about culture, about how to fight, to keep up resistance and keep the Palestinian identity."

Nice idea. But whose?

The theatre was established by an Israeli woman, Arna Mer-Khamis during the first Palestinian intifada in 1987 and known as "Stone Theatre."...It was rebuilt by Mer-Khamis's actor son Juliano in 2004, with the help of Zakaria Zubeidi, one of the most powerful militants in Jenin who himself is an alumni of the project...

But the theatre is not without domestic critics, including those who resort to violence. A week ago, someone tried to set fire to the building, with the blaze damaging the front door.

"These attacks and threats against the theatre come from small reactionary groups in the camp displaying narrow, racist interests, and who consider theatre, cinema and music as destructive factors in the Palestinian struggle for liberation," the theatre later said in a statement.

Supporters of the project hope that the attack was an isolated incident.

Just make sure that when the gun appears in the first act, it doesn't shoot - not in the third or ever. (*)




(*)

"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." From Gurlyand's Reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov, in Teatr i iskusstvo 1904, No. 28, 11 July, p. 521.’

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.”

Condi - Jenin, It's Jenin

I've been coming down hard on Condoleeza Rice these past few days during her visit her where she has highlighted Jenin as her success story. (See the links to her statements here and also here) and, for example this remark at Sharm:

The Quartet cited Jenin as an example of the success of reforms instituted by the Palestinian government, and of cooperation between the two sides made possible in the context of the Annapolis process.

Well, another egg on her face:-

IDF soldiers caught a Palestinian in possession of a pipe bomb Monday night at the Taysir checkpoint, near Jenin. The bomb was safely detonated by sappers and the Palestinian was detained for interrogation.

Oh when will they ever learn?

Jenin Again

Condi Rice is off to...Jenin.

...my purpose here is to continue to work on the Annapolis process and all of its elements by going to Jenin to look at and, I hope, to underscore the progress that is being made on the ground in building the institutions of a future Palestinian state, particularly the security institutions where there’s been significant progress, and then continuing to talk with the parties about how they might move forward on core issues.

There it is, that showcase of America.

I claim that all the hoo-ha at Jenin to illustrate that the Pals. are capable of providing enough security for Israel so that it can further withdraw is a facade. They aren't dealing with terrorists and Israel still has to raid.

P.S.

And as for Jerusalem:

QUESTION: Right now, the Israeli Government not formed is a problem, obviously. Are you relieved that Tzipi Livni decided not to form a government with the Shas, which would have been a problem for the Jerusalem question? Instead of – she decided not to form it and to wait for February. Do you think it’s a good sign?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I’m not going to comment on internal Israeli politics or the decisions that Tzipi Livni made. I would note that the government has remained committed to the process; that she, as Foreign Minister, has remained committed to the process. And I would just state what is obvious: In order to create a Palestinian state, all issues are going to have to be resolved. And that includes – there will have to ultimately be a resolution of the issue of Jerusalem one way or another.

But I can’t comment on and won’t comment on her decision. That was her decision.

Bakri's Bummer

From Yael Lerer yael@andalus.co.il - English summary based on mail from Dorothy dor_naor@netvision.net.il

Mohammad Bakri is being sued by 5 soldiers, who claim that he misrepresented their acts in his movie Jenin Jenin. His trial will be held Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at the Petah Tikva District Court at 11:30 in the morning. He does not know the name of the judge, but is being defended by Avigdor Feldman.

Well, finally some good news.