Jenin
Other transcription(s)
• Arabic	جنين
• Also spelled	Jinin (official) Janin (unofficial)
Arab American University in Jenin
Jenin Location of Jenin within the Palestinian territories
Coordinates: 32°27′42.51″N 35°18′4.88″E / 32.4618083°N 35.3013556°E / 32.4618083; 35.3013556Coordinates: 32°27′42.51″N 35°18′4.88″E / 32.4618083°N 35.3013556°E / 32.4618083; 35.3013556
Governorate	Jenin
Government
• Type	City
• Head of Municipality	Hadem Rida
Area
• Jurisdiction	37,342 dunams (37.3 km2 or 14.4 sq mi)
Population (2007)[1]
• Jurisdiction	39,004
	(plus 10,371 in Jenin refugee camp)

Jenin (Arabic:  جنين (help·info)‎ Ǧanīn, Hebrew: ג'נין‎) is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 39,004^[1] Jenin is under the administration of the Palestinian Authority.

Etymology[link]

Jenin was known in ancient times as the village of "Ein-Jenin" or "Tel Jenin".^[2] Tell Jenin, is located at the center of what is today Jenin's business district.^[3] The word "'ayn" means "water spring" in Arabic and the word "Jenin" might be related to the Arabic word جنّة (janna), which means "garden".^{[citation needed]} The arabicized name "Jenin" ultimately derives from this ancient name. The association of Jenin with the biblical city of Ein-Ganim was recognized by Ishtori Haparchi.^{[citation needed]}

Geography[link]

This section requires expansion.

Jenin overlooks both the Jordan Valley to the east and the Jezreel Valley (known in Arabic as "Marj Ibn Amer") to the north, and from the south it connects to the Samaria mountains.

History[link]

Jenin, 1937

Antiquity[link]

Jenin is built on the ruins of the Canaanite city of Ayn Jenim. ^[4] Four terracotta lamps of Phoenician origin dated to the 8th century BCE were discovered in Ain Jenin by archaeologist G. I. Harding, and are interpreted as attesting to some form of contact and exchange between the residents of Jenin at that time and those of Phoenicia.^[5]During the Roman era, Jenin was called "Ginae." In the days of Saladin Al Ayubi, around 1187, there was a castle in the Jenin vicinity. ^[6]

Mamluk era[link]

In the late 13th century, Mamluk emirs stationed at Jenin were ordered by Qalawun, the sultan, "to ride every day with their troops before the fortress of 'Akka, so as to protect the coast and the merchants."^[7]

Ottoman era[link]

During the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Palestine (1517-1918), Jenin, Lajjun and the Carmel area, were for part of the 17th century ruled by Bedouin sheikhs, in this case the Turabay family.^[8] In the mid-18th century, Jenin was designated the administrative capital of a district that included Lajjun, Ajlun and Jabal Nablus.^[9] There are indications that the area comprising Jenin and Nablus remained functionally autonomous under Ottoman rule and that the empire struggled to collect taxes there. During the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt which extended into Syria and Palestine in 1799, a local official from Jenin wrote a poem enumerating and calling upon local Arab leaders to resist Bonaparte, without mentioning the Sultan or the need to protect the Ottoman empire.^[10] In the late 19th century, some members of the Jarrar family, who formed part of the mallakin (elite land-owning families) in Jenin, cooperated with merchants in Haifa to set up an export enterprise there. Tawfiq Jarrar was accorded the unique title, "son of the great" (salil al-akabir) in Haifa, in recognition of his family's status and his entrepreneurial efforts.^[11]During the Ottoman era, Jenin was plagued by local warfare between members of the same clan.^[12]

British Mandate[link]

From 1936, Jenin became a center of violence against the authorities of the British Mandate. By the summer of 1938, residents of the city embarked on "an intensified campaign of murder, intimidation and sabotage" that caused the British administration "grave concern," according to its report to the League of Nations.^[13] Jenin was a major player in the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, prompted by the death of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam in a fire-fight with British colonial police at the nearby town of Ya'bad. Jenin was used by Fawzi al-Qawuqji's Arab Liberation Army as a base. On August 25, 1938, the day after the British Assistant District Commissioner was assassinated in his Jenin office, a large British force with explosives entered the town. After ordering the inhabitants to leave, about one quarter of the town was blown up.^[14]

Jordanian control[link]

In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the city was defended by the Iraqi Army, then captured briefly by the forces from Israel's Carmeli Brigade during the "Ten Days' fighting" following the cancellation of the first cease-fire. The offensive was actually a feint designed to draw Arab forces away from the critical Siege of Jerusalem, and gains in that sector were quickly abandoned when Arab reinforcements arrived. The Jenin refugee camp was founded in 1953 by Jordan to house displaced Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the 1948 War. For 19 years, the city was under Jordanian control. A war cemetery for Iraqi soldiers and local combatants is located on the outskirts of Jenin.

Israeli control[link]

In 1967, on the first day of the Six-Day War, Jenin was captured by the Israel Defense Forces.

Palestinian control[link]

In 1996, Israel handed over control of the city to the Palestinian National Authority in keeping with the Oslo Accords. During the al-Aqsa Intifada, it launched Operation Defensive Shield with the stated aim of dismantling terrorist infrastructure so as to curb suicide bombings and other militant activities. The army encircled and entered six major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, among them Jenin. During the Battle of Jenin in April 2002, 23 Israeli soldiers and 52 Palestinians, most of them militants^[15][16] , were killed.^[17] The refugee camp, which was the major battleground, suffered extensive damage. Over the following years, Jenin was subject to extended curfews and targeted killings. A UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employee, Iain Hook, was killed on November 22, 2002.^[18][19]

In 2010, 600 new businesses opened in Jenin.^[20]

Director of the Freedom Theater in Jenin, Juliano Mer-Khamis, was murdered in the city in April 2011. Mer co-founded the theatre with Zacharia Zubeidi, former military chief of the al-Aqsa Brigades who had renounced violence. Suspicious parents regarded Mer as an Israeli agent and a proselytizer for Western values.^[21]

In the framework of the Valley of Peace initiative, a joint Arab-Israeli project is under way to promote tourism in the Jenin region.^[22]

The Canaan Fair Trade is headquartered in Jenin.^[23]

Government[link]

Jenin municipality was established in 1886 under the Ottoman rule with no more than 80 voters and elections were made every 4 years until 1982 when the Israeli government took control over the municipality until 1995.^{[citation needed]}

List of Jenin mayors:^[24]

Municipal elections were held in Jenin on 15 December 2005. Six seats each were won by Hamas and the local coalition of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Jenin was one of several Palestinian cities where Hamas showed a dramatic growth in electoral support. ^[25] The mayor of Jenin is Hadem Rida.

Demographics[link]

According to the official 2007 census, Jenin had a population of 39,004,^[1] the Jenin Refugee Camp of 10,371^[1] with 9,571 registered refugees.^[26] on 373 dunams (92 acres). Some 42.3% of the population of the camp was under the age of fifteen.

Public institutions and landmarks[link]

The Khalil Suleiman Hospital is located in Jenin. The city has a monument honoring German pilots shot down in Jenin during the First World War which incorporates an original wooden propeller.^[34] The city also has a stadium near Qabatya with a capacity of over 9000 spectators.^{[citation needed]} An old British Mandate landing strip, Muqeible Airfield, is located in Jenin.

Education and culture[link]

The Arab American University is in Jenin. Strings of Freedom is an orchestra in Jenin founded by an Israeli Arab, Wafaa Younis, who travels form her home in central Israel to teach music to the local youth.^[35] Since 2010, the Gilboa Regional Council has been working with the Jenin district authorities on the development of joint tourism projects.^[36]Cinema Jenin is the largest movie theater in the area. The theater, which reopened in 2010 after a 23 year intermission, has indoor and outdoor screens, a film library and educational facilities.^[37]

Notable residents[link]

• Belly
• Zakaria Zubeidi

References[link]