|
| By: Associated Press |
| Published: December 18, 2004 |
| |
 |
| Zakaria Zubeidi, the 29-year-old militant leader, and at least 20 of his armed men embarrassed the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. (AP) |
| |
Dozens of gun-toting Palestinian militants on Thursday marched into a U.N. ceremony to dedicate new homes for families whose houses were destroyed by the Israeli military -- a sign of the authority gunmen still hold in this West Bank town.
The sudden appearance of Zakaria Zubeidi, the 29-year-old militant leader, and at least 20 of his armed men embarrassed the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the body that administers Palestinian refugee camps.
Weapons are banned in the camps, but during four years of violence, armed gangs have taken control, building their reputations through deadly attacks on Israelis. The unarmed Palestinian police have been shunted aside.
Zubeidi, West Bank head of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group linked to the ruling Fatah party, strode to the gate of the compound housing U.N. agency offices, passing signs on a fence showing the silhouette of a gun with a red line through it.
After a brief argument with a guard, he checked in his M-16 assault rifle with telescopic sight and walked in -- a pistol clearly visible on his hip.
"Of course I don't condone it, but it's a fact of life," UNRWA head Peter Hansen told The Associated Press, referring to the violation of the no-arms rule. "Look around the camp. We can't stop it -- we don't have guns."
The center of the refugee camp, one of the most militant and anarchic in the West Bank, was devastated in a fierce battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen in April 2002, when 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed.
Israeli bulldozers moving down the narrow streets shaved the fronts off many buildings, leaving them uninhabitable. Hundreds of homes were reduced to rubble, and 2,000 people were left homeless.
The Jenin raid was part of "Operation Defensive Shield," launched after 29 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing carried out by a Jenin resident.
To rehabilitate the neighborhood, UNRWA built 435 houses with $27 million from the Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates.
Britain provided project management and Swiss and Swedish sappers cleared the ground of unexploded shells and bombs.
Now a cluster of trim two- three- and four-story homes gleaming with fresh yellow and cream paint stands where the rubble was.
Fatmi Awais, 40, moved in to her home three months ago with her husband and six children. Asked if she was happy in her new surroundings, she nodded, but without much enthusiasm.
Thursday's completion ceremony included a rare visit to the West Bank by the UAE Red Crescent head, Khalifa Nasser Alswaidi. He appeared taken aback as he stepped out of his car into a crowd of pushing, shouting Palestinians, excited at the sight of a Gulf Arab dignitary in flowing robes.
Uniformed but unarmed Palestinian police were shoved aside by Zubeidi and his men, who formed a self-appointed escort for Alswaidi and his entourage, surrounding them and forcing their way through the crowd and into the hall where the ceremonies were held.
Inside, Zubeidi jumped on stage, grabbed the microphone and politely but firmly told the jostling crowd to sit down and pay attention. His gun was slung across his back and he was flanked by two other men, weapons held high.
His authority unchallenged, the crowd responded immediately, while throughout the hall more of his followers, waving an assortment of automatic weapons, acted as ushers and doorkeepers.
Zubeidi is wanted by the Israelis, who blame him for a string of fatal attacks on Israelis.
He is not in line for a new house, though his last house was demolished as a punitive measure by the Israeli army.
"I don't think anyone would risk giving him a nice new one," one of his gunmen said. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
