The Jenin refugee camp sits a kilometre and a half west of the city centre on land originally leased from the village of Jenin in 1953 for Palestinians displaced from Haifa and the coastal plain. Seventy years on it has grown into a dense quarter of concrete houses, narrow lanes, and persistent water shortages, home to roughly 14,000 registered refugees on half a square kilometre.
The camp is also one of the most politically charged places in the West Bank, scene of intense fighting in 2002 and of repeated Israeli incursions since. Walking through is a sober experience — bullet-scarred walls, martyr posters, kids playing football in dust — and it should not be done alone or without local guidance. The Freedom Theatre runs visitor programmes that include a guided introduction.