Time to clean up the battlefield of a dirty war

United Nations special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen entered Jenin refugee camp on April 18, shortly after Israel lifted its news blackout, and declared the sight of the devastated camp "horrific beyond belief". He was not alone in being appalled. The pictures of a vast wasteland that days before had been home to thousands of Palestinians shocked the world.

Six weeks later, the horror of the camp is undiminished. The only visible difference is that peacemakers like Roed-Larsen are nowhere to be found. Last week, there were plenty of families sitting out the midday heat under makeshift tents or in crumbling buildings propped up with wooden scaffolding. At least 2,000 people are homeless and some were still scavenging for whatever belongings survived the collapse of their homes.

Children showed off the live rounds they had collected. According to the UN's refugee arm UNRWA, since the Israeli army left there have been 34 injuries from unexploded ordnance and two deaths, including that of a 12-year-old girl.

Many of the camp's 15,000 inhabitants are still in shock after 10 days of bombardment from Cobra and Apache helicopters, and shelling and gunfire from Merkava tanks. Occasionally, a body is unearthed. The official Palestinian death toll stands at 56, but in the confusion caused by Israel's mass round-up of men no one is sure how many people are still unaccounted for.

After the week-long frenzy of concern in mid-April, the current silence of the international community is truly scandalous. One cannot but suspect that the world has chosen to forget Jenin.

Two related factors contributed to this rapid loss of interest. The first occurred with the west's supine acceptance of Israel's decision to block a UN fact-finding mission. There is little doubt that the UN lost its nerve to push for an inquiry. The fierce criticism UNWRA now faces in the US has increased its reluctance to publicise the camp's plight.