For the first time in eight years, the IDF will allow Israeli-Arabs into the city known not long ago as the terrorism capital of the Shomron, Jenin.
The change will be in effect for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, parallel to the Hebrew month of Elul, beginning this Thursday and ending the day before Rosh HaShanah.
Arab affairs correspondent Haggai Huberman reports, in the name of Palestinian Authority sources, that Israeli officers informed Jenin District Governo Kadura Musa of the decision. It represents one of the promised “gestures” in honor of the holiday.
Huberman notes, however, that while Arab sources report that the city will be open to private Arab cars with yellow Israeli license plates, the IDF spokesman’s office said that the visitors will only be allowed in aboard buses.
“This will be a vital step forward for our economy,” Musa said. Permission to enter Jenin will be granted only to Arabs, not Jews.
Terror Capital in 2002, Quiet in 2009 - All Because of IDF
In Israel’s major counter-terrorism offensive known as Operation Defensive Shield of April 2002, the main target was then-terrorism-capital, Jenin. Nowadays, however, the city is relatively quiet. “Even long-wanted terrorist Zekarya Zubeidi, one-time head of Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, has gone into retirement,” Huberman said.
Without IDF
“The change is mainly due to the fact that the IDF operates in the city,” says Huberman. "If the IDF were not there, the picture would be very different.”
PA sources say the city will be open to Israeli-Arab cars during Ramadan from 9 til 11 in the morning, and cars will be able to leave between the hours of 3 and 9 PM.