"Today we are marching for Iraq and in memory of the battle in Jenin refugee camp," he says. "There is a big connection between Iraq and Jenin -- they can learn from what we did here a year ago."

Two weeks into the US war on Iraq, thousands of Palestinians massed this in the northern West Bank shanty town to commemorate the first anniversary of a pitched battle between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants, and to show their support for Iraq.

Iraq holds special significance for many here, where the bodies of nearly 100 Iraqi soldiers who fell fighting in the 1948 war lie buried in a martyrs' cemetery.

In the town centre, people massed around a 60-foot (20 metre) monument to the Iraqi soldiers who died in the war.

Cars and jeeps sped down the main street, hundreds of flags of hardline factions flying out the windows.

Deafening gunfire pierced the air and slogans were bellowed by loud-speaker as the masses approached the camp.

"Even though our Arab leaders forbid us to go, we must all go to Iraq to fight!" yelled a man in his 50s between puffs on a cigarette.

"We will give our blood for Baghdad," shouted another.

There were also dozens of empty wooden stretchers "for the Arab leaders and for (US President George W.) Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair", explained one marcher.

The connection with Iraq has deepened since the outset of the US-led war on Saddam Hussein's regime, with US and British troops facing fierce resistance from Iraqi fighters in the cities -- evoking powerful memories of last year's battle in Jenin's refugee camp.

Some 53 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during heavy fighting in the camp last April at the outset of Israel's Defensive Wall operation, when troops swarmed into the West Bank after a deadly suicide bombing killed 29.

Troops clashed with gunmen in the most intensive urban warfare since the outbreak of the 30-month long intifada, or Palestinian uprising -- a battle which left the centre of the camp devastated and provoked unfounded Palestinian claims that a massacre had taken place.

Although the dust may have settled on the ruined camp centre, memories of the intense fighting are still vivid, and are now being raked up by both sides as a symbol for the ongoing war in Iraq.

For Israel, the frequent target of international criticism for its heavy-handed tactics in the Palestinian territories and particularly in the Jenin battle, the stubborn resistance being faced by US and British troops in Iraqi cities is seen as a vindication.

But for the Palestinians, Jenin is a potent symbol for the Iraqi people of how to successfully use urban warfare against a well equipped military foe.

Inside the camp, hundreds of silver shellcases rained down on the crowd as another Kalashnikov volley rattled around the steep hillside.

Black smoke billowed through the dusty air as the crowd burned life-size effigies of Blair and Bush to rousing cheers and whistles from up to 9,000 people, mostly men and children.

"Iraq and Jenin are fighting against the same enemy: America and Israel," nodded Ahmed Turkman, a 22, a student at Jenin's Arab American University.

"All the people here are trying to go to Iraq to fight," he said. "Iraq will teach the US soldiers that no Arabs are willing to accept occupation."

"Iraq is going to teach the Americans a lesson, that it isn't easy to attack an Arab country, and that they can't take the oil because it is our blood," says Jamal Abu Zuluf, 20.

Among the first civilians to die in the Iraq conflict was a Palestinian driver from Jenin, and now many places in the camp have been named in honour of the first Iraq suicide bomber, who blew himself up in southern Iraq killing four US troops.

"Jenin and Iraq are very close - like twins," said Rabir Hasees, 23, a student at Tulkarem University. "We are all heroes in the war against America and Israel, against the occupation.

"Jenin camp was just one battle in a bigger war that we will win in the end," he concluded. Israel battled Jenin into restless submission in nine days of intense fighting, but armed clashes still break out when Israeli forces patrol the town.

SPACE.WIRE