A Tower of Falsehoods

JENIN is an attractive, rather sleepy town set amid the beautiful hills of the West Bank. For some time now, Palestinian extremists have found the refugee camp there a good cover from which to prepare and launch suicide bombers against Israel. Mao Tse-tung said that guerrillas ought to move among the locals as fish swim in the sea. Following that precept, Palestinian terrorists set up shop at Jenin. Established about 50 years ago, the camp has evolved into something like an Arab village of its own, with winding alleys, shops, two-and three-story houses, a busy communal life. I haven’t been back for several years, but when I was last there the inhabitants well understood that there might be a price to pay for the extremists in their midst. But what could they do about it? Fatalistically, they shrugged.

When the Israeli army recently arrived to settle accounts with the terrorists, most of the people naturally fled from the camp to be out of harm’s way. Some were unable or unwilling to flee, and a few were held as human shields by Palestinian gunmen. In house-to-house combat, using every tactic fair and foul, Palestinian extremists fought the Israelis until their ammunition ran out, whereupon they surrendered. By that time, about 100 square yards of the camp had been wrecked, and a number of those who had remained there had been killed. How many? Fifty-two so far, of whom 21 were civilians, according to Human Rights Watch. Not more than 100, according to the Israelis. At least 500, according to the Palestinian authorities, who accuse Israel of a war crime, a deliberate massacre.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

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JENIN is an attractive, rather sleepy town set amid the beautiful hills of the West Bank. For some time now, Palestinian extremists have found the refugee camp there a good cover from which to prepare and launch suicide bombers against Israel. Mao Tse-tung said that guerrillas ought to move among the locals as fish swim in the sea. Following that precept, Palestinian terrorists set up shop at Jenin. Established about 50 years ago, the camp has evolved into something like an Arab village of its own, with winding alleys, shops, two-and three-story houses, a busy communal life. I haven’t been back for several years, but when I was last there the inhabitants well understood that there might be a price to pay for the extremists in their midst. But what could they do about it? Fatalistically, they shrugged.

When the Israeli army recently arrived to settle accounts with the terrorists, most of the people naturally fled from the camp to be out of harm’s way. Some were unable or unwilling to flee, and a few were held as human shields by Palestinian gunmen. In house-to-house combat, using every tactic fair and foul, Palestinian extremists fought the Israelis until their ammunition ran out, whereupon they surrendered. By that time, about 100 square yards of the camp had been wrecked, and a number of those who had remained there had been killed. How many? Fifty-two so far, of whom 21 were civilians, according to Human Rights Watch. Not more than 100, according to the Israelis. At least 500, according to the Palestinian authorities, who accuse Israel of a war crime, a deliberate massacre.