The Jenin Inquiry, a group of 12 internationals from the US, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and Norway conducted detailed, in-depth interviews with people of the Jenin Refugee camp from April 11th until mid-May, 2002. We conducted over 40 hour-long interviews in this ongoing process of uncovering gross violations of human rights committed by the Israeli military in their invasion of the Jenin Refugee Camp. The Jenin Inquiry is comprised of concerned human rights workers who came together over a period of weeks during and immediately after the Israeli military assault on the Jenin Refugee Camp, which occurred from 3-18 April 2002. Among our group are the first international aid workers to enter the Jenin Refugee Camp (before the UN and ICRC) and first international visitors to the thousands of displaced persons who were detained and eventually released into numerous villages in the Jenin District. While previous investigations by several groups resulting in reports thus far have involved a process of only days or maybe a few weeks, two of our members spent a month and two months respectively in the camp itself, both communicating with residents in their native language, Arabic. They not only visited the camp in the daylight hours, as most international workers, but also lived with families in the camp, allowing for a larger, more detailed picture to emerge. A third member of Jenin Inquiry has lived in the camp now for over six months. Our report differs in intensity and scope from other reports, especially the latest release by the United Nations, whose findings we consider muffled and simplistic. The document opens with a disclaimer that “the report was written without a visit to Jenin or the other Palestinian cities in question and it therefore relies completely on available resources and information” and therefore by definition cannot be considered to present a comprehensive picture or final statement on the events in the Jenin Refugee Camp from 3-18 April 2002. The Jenin Inquiry has chosen not to categorize or label the events of the Jenin Refugee Camp from 3-18 April 2002 in order to preserve an emphasis on factual detail. The report has chosen, rather, to attempt to offer a blunt picture in its uncensored and complex detail and to offer a more far-reaching outline of a wide array of issues. Where conclusions cannot be drawn, the Jenin Inquiry, in contrast to reports by the UN, Human Rights Watch, and Physicians for Human Rights USA, has chosen to leave the issue without a final answer. |
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