Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the
State of Palestine
Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state located in Western Asia. Officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization ( ...
and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of approximately 40,000 people, whilst the Jenin refugee camp had a population of 10,000.2007 Locality Population Statistics . Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics Jenin is under the administration of the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
Jenin is commonly identified with the biblical city of Ein-Ganim, from he, עֵין גַּנִּים, meaning "the spring of gardens" or “the spring of Ganim”, probably referring to the many springs located nearby. The present-day Arabic name is believed to preserve the city's ancient name.
History
Ancient period
Jenin is identified with a number of important towns mentioned in ancient sources. Throughout history, it was referred to as "Ein Ganim", "Beth Hagan", "Ginah", and "Ginae", along other names. Tell Jenin, believed to constitute the original settlement core of the city, is located at the center of what is today Jenin's business district.Kohl et al., 2007, p. 339.
Bronze Age
Jenin has been identified as the place " Gina" or "Ginah" mentioned in the Amarna letters from the 14th century BCE. At the time, it was a vassal state of the
New Kingdom of Egypt
The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radioc ...
. The people of Gina managed to kill the warlord Labaya during the reign of
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth ...
.
Iron Age
Jenin is identical to Ein-Ganim, which the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
describes as a
Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew d ...
city belonging to the
Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
Tribe of Issachar
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Issachar () was one of the twelve tribes of Israel and one of the ten lost tribes. In Jewish tradition, the descendants of Issachar were seen as being dominated by religious scholars and influential ...
. It has also been associated with Beth-Haggan, mentioned in 2 Kings in connection with
Ahaziah Ahaziah ( he, אֲחַזְיָהוּ, "held by Yah(-weh)"; Douay–Rheims: Ochozias) was the name of two kings mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:
* Ahaziah of Israel
* Ahaziah of Judah
{{Short pages monitor
, were killed.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...
reported that the refugee camp, which was the major battleground, suffered extensive damage. Witnesses stated unarmed people were shot and denied medical treatment, and as a result died. Human Rights Watch have regarded many killings to be unlawful such as the death of a 57-year-old wheelchair bound man who was shot and run over by a tank despite having attached a white flag on his wheelchair. A 37-year-old man who was paralysed was crushed under the rubble of his house, his family was refused to be allowed to remove his body. A 14-year-old boy was killed as he travelled to purchase groceries during the temporary relief of the curfew that was imposed by the army. Medical staff were shot at (one nurse killed) while trying to reach the wounded even after clearly being in uniform displaying the red crescent symbol. There have also been reports of Israeli soldiers using Palestinians as human shields, one father described how a soldier rested his rifle on his 14-year-old son's shoulder as he shot. Israel denied the entry of rescue teams and journalists into Jenin even after they withdrew. Over the following years, Jenin was subject to extended curfews and targeted killings.
During a gun-battle with Islamic Jihad militants whom Israel says were firing at troops from inside the UN compound, an
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i military sniper shot and killed a UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employee, Iain Hook (54) on November 22, 2002. The sniper reportedly mistook a cellphone in Hook's hands for a gun or grenade.
In the framework of the Valley of Peace initiative, a joint Arab-Israeli project is under way to promote tourism in the Jenin region. In 2010, 600 new businesses opened in Jenin. The
Canaan Fair Trade
Canaan Fair Trade is a supplier of organic and fair trade ingredients olive oil, Almonds, Almond Oil, Carob Syrup, Freekeh, Maftoul to Europe, North America and the Middle East. It was founded in 2004 by Palestinian-American Nasser Abufarha and is ...
is headquartered in Jenin. Director of the Freedom Theater in Jenin,
Juliano Mer-Khamis
Juliano Mer-Khamis ( he, ג'וליאנו מר ח'מיס; ar, جوليانو مير خميس; born Juliano Khamis; 29 May 19584 April 2011) was an Israeli/Palestinian actor, director, filmmaker, and political activist of Jewish and Palestinian ...
, was killed by masked gunmen in the city in April 2011. Mer-Khamis co-founded the theatre with Zakaria Zubeidi, former military chief of the al-Aqsa Brigades who had renounced violence.
On 6 February 2020, a Palestinian policeman, Tarek Badwan, was shot dead by an Israeli sniper as he stood at the entrance to the Jenin police station and chatted with a colleague. No explanation has been forthcoming. The incident was recorded on video.
On 17 June 2022, Israeli forces conducted a raid in the al-Marah area of the city. During the raid, Israeli forces opened fire on a car, killing three Palestinians and seriously injuring another.
Geography
Jenin is situated at the foot of the rugged northernmost hills ( Jabal Nablus) of the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, and along the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley (Marj Ibn Amer), which the city overlooks. Its highest elevation is about 250 meters above sea level and its lowest areas are 90 meters above sea level. Immediately southwest of Jenin is the
Sahl Arraba
Dothan Valley ( he, עמק דותן ''Emek Dotan''), called Sahl Arraba (سهل عرّابة) in Arabic, is a fertile tectonic valley in the northern West Bank. The region is about eleven kilometers long and four kilometers wide. There are several ...
plain (Dothan Valley), while further south is the
Marj Sanur
Marj Sanur ( ar, مرج صانور, translation: "Sanur Valley"; also called Marj al-Ghuruq, translation: "Drowning Valley" is a closed basin within the northern mountains of the West Bank, located entirely in the southern Jenin Governorate, in be ...
valley. About 1.5 kilometers to Jenin's east is
Mount Gilboa
Mount Gilboa ( he, הַר הַגִּלְבֹּעַ, translit=Har hagGīlbōaʿ ; ar, جبل جلبوع ''Jabal Jarbūʿ'' or ''Jabal Fuqqāʿa''), sometimes referred to as the Mountains of Gilboa, is the name for a mountain range in Israel. It ...
(Jabal Faqqua).
Jenin is 42 kilometers north of Nablus, 18 kilometers to the south of
Afula
Afula ( he, עפולה Arabic: العفولة) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of .
Afula's ancient ...
, and 51 kilometers southeast of
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...
. The nearest localities are
Umm at-Tut
Umm al-Tut ( ar, ام التوت, ām āltwt, literally "mum-berries") is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 6 km southeast of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics ...
Zababdeh
Zababdeh or Zababida ( ar, الزبابدة) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located southeast of Jenin and from the Arab American University.
History
Sherds from Middle Bronze Age II, Iron Age I & II, through to the B ...
Kafr Dan
Kafr Dan ( ar, كفر دان) is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate, located 8 km northwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the town had a population of ...
to the west,
Arranah
’Arrana ( ar, عرّانه) is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate, located 4 kilometers Northeast of Jenin, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 2,144 ...
, Jalamah and the Arab Israeli village of Muqeible to the north,
Deir Ghazaleh
Deir Ghazaleh ( ar, دير غزالة) is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located nine kilometers northeast of Jenin in the Jenin Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Deir Ghazaleh had a popula ...
to the northeast, and
Beit Qad
Beit Qad ( ar, بيت قاد) is a Palestinian rural village in the West Bank governorate of Jenin. The village is located 5km from the city of Jenin and according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) in 2016 it had a population ...
and
Deir Abu Da'if
Deir Abu Da'if ( ar, دير ابو ضعيف) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 6 km east of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population ...
to the east.
Government
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.
List of Jenin mayors:
*Andulmajeed Mansour
*Abdulrahman Al-Haj Hassan
*Ragheb Al-Souki
*Al-Haj Hassan Fazaa'
*Tawfeek Mansour
*Bshara Atallah
*Hussein al-Abboushi
*Aref Abdulrahman
*
Fahmi al-Abboushi
Fahmi al-Abboushi (1895–1975; ) was the co-founder of the Arab nationalist political party ''Hizb al-Istiqlal'' (Independence Party) in Palestine along with his close associate Awni Abd al-Hadi.
Abboushi was Mayor of Jenin from 1935 until he ...
*Tahseen Abdulhadi
*Abdulraheem Jarrar
*Saleh Arif Azzouqa
*Hussni Al-Souki
*Ahmed Kamal Al-saa'di
*Ahmed Shawki Al-Mahmoud
*Shehab Al-Sanouri
*Abdullah Lahlouh
*Waleed Abu Mwais (appointed)
*Hatim Jarrar
Municipal elections were held in Jenin on 15 December 2005. Six seats each were won by
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
and the local coalition of
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the Confederation, confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organizati ...
and the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist an ...
. Jenin was one of several Palestinian cities where Hamas showed a dramatic growth in electoral support.
The mayor of Jenin is Hadem Rida.
Demographics
According to the 2007 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jenin had a population of 39,004, the Jenin Refugee Camp of 10,371 with 9,571 registered refugees on 373 dunams (92
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...
s). Some 42.3% of the population of the camp was under the age of 15.
Public institutions and landmarks
The
Khalil Suleiman
Khalil Suleiman ( ar, خليل سليمان) (1943/1944–4 March 2002) was a Palestinian doctor in Jenin in the West Bank. He was head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Emergency Medical Service (effectively the ambulance service) in Je ...
Hospital is located in Jenin.
The city has a monument honoring German pilots shot down in Jenin during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
which incorporates an original wooden propeller. An old British Mandate landing strip,
Muqeible Airfield
Muqeible Airfield is an abandoned military airfield located in the northern West Bank, approximately 1 km southwest of the village of Muqeible, Israel and 3 km north of Jenin, Palestine.
The airfield was built in 1917 in the Ottoman ...
, is located in Jenin. The main and largest
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...
of Jenin is the
Fatima Khatun Mosque
The Fatima Khatun Mosque ( ar, جامع جنين الكبير, also known as the Great Mosque of Jenin) is the main mosque of the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Adjacent to the mosque is the still-active Fatima Khatun Girls ...
, built in 1566.
Education and culture
The Arab American University is located in Jenin's vicinity.
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.
Strings of Freedom Strings of Freedom is an youth orchestra in the West Bank town of Jenin. It was founded by an Israeli Arab, Wafaa Younis, who travels regularly from her home in central Israel to teach music to children in Jenin.
Holocaust survivor incident
In 200 ...
is an orchestra in Jenin founded by an Arab citizen of Israel, Wafaa Younis, who travels form her home in central Israel to teach music to the local youth.
Since 2010, the Gilboa Regional Council has been working with the Jenin district authorities on the development of joint tourism projects.Between the Gilboa and Jenin /ref>