Starting next week, Israel will roll out a brand new bus system that looks to paint the Jewish state in some of the worst limelight it has ever seen (in my opinion that is). According to Haaretz, the Afikim bus company will begin operating Palestinian-only bus lines from the checkpoints to Gush Dan to prevent Palestinians from boarding buses with Jewish passengers. Palestinians are not allowed to enter settlements, and instead board buses from several bus stops on the Trans-Samaria highway.
Israel's Transportation Ministry said that The bus lines are meant to transport Palestinian workers from the West Bank to central Israel, easing the congestion felt on bus lines used by Jews in the same areas, but several bus drivers explained that Palestinians who choose to travel on the so-called "mixed" lines will be asked to leave them. From an official standpoint, the Palestininan-only buses are considered "general bus lines"; however, the announcement about their existence was only publicized via flyers in Arabic that were distributed in Palestinian villages in the West Bank.
As expected, human rights groups, as well as anyone else with a working brain, are beginning to raise their arms in shock and disgust (including yours truly), because, as the ministry explain further, "Many complaints expressed concern that the Palestinian passengers may pose a security risk, while other complaints said that the overcrowded buses cause the drivers to skip stations. We have also gotten reports of scuffles between Jews and Arab passengers, as well as between Palestinians and drivers who refused to allow them to board their bus.
Jessica Montell, the director of the B'Tselem rights group, said on Army Radio, "Creating separate bus lines for Israeli Jews and Palestinians is a revolting plan. This is simply racism. Such a plan cannot be justified with claims of security needs or overcrowding."
To make things more vague, the Ministry of Transportation went on to further explain that it is not authorized to prevent any passengers from using public transport services. From a legal perspective, there is technically no way to stop Palestinians from boarding "regular" lines: "We are not allowed to refuse service and we will not order anyone to get off the bus, but from what we were told, starting next week, there will be checks at the checkpoint, and Palestinians will be asked to board their own buses," a driver with Afikim explained. Moreover, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld noted that all Palestinians returning to the West Bank would be searched for stolen property, a routine Israeli precaution; however, he did not know how exactly this practice would affect Palestinian travel on regular buses.
Chaim Levinson explores the situation in a bit more detail in his Haaretz article earlier this week:
Any Palestinian who holds an entrance permit to the State of Israel is allowed by law to use public transportation. Officials at the Samaria and Judea District Police have said there is no change in the operation of the rest of the buses, nor is there any intention to remove Palestinians from other bus lines. But Haaretz has in the past reported incidents when Palestinians were taken off of buses, and witnesses at checkpoints say that such incidents are ongoing.
Ofra Yeshua-Lyth is a member of Machsom Watch, a female advocacy group monitoring West Bank checkpoints. She says that recently, Bus 286 from Tel Aviv to Samaria arrived at a checkpoint filled with Palestinian workers. She filed the following report:
"Police officer Advanced Staff Sergeant Major Shai Zecharia stops the bus at the bus stop. Soldiers order all the Palestinians off the bus. The first thing they do is collect all their identity cards as they get off. One by one, the Palestinians are told to go away from the bus stop and walk to the Azzun Atma checkpoint, which is about 2.5 kilometers away from the Shaar Shomron interchange. All of them responded with restraint and sadness, at most asking why. Here and there they received answers such as, ‘You’re not allowed on Highway 5’ and ‘You’re not allowed on public transportation.’ Advanced Staff Sergeant Major Zecharia gave some vital information to one of the older Palestinians who had arrived there, telling him: You should ride in special vans, not on Israeli buses.”
In keeping my own security analysis and witty sarcasm at bay for objectivity's sake, I will just take a moment to point out, as a follower of the Jolsonian school of Jewish tolerance (remember that one folks?), I'm completely appalled by Israel's lack of foresight on this situation. Segregated buses…I mean c'mon folks, as if the apartheid accusations were not coming on strong enough prior to 2013, I have to ask, how is this bus system going to help dispel the impression of Israel as an apartheid state?
In addition to the track of the day, I'll leave you with a quote from an Afikim bus driver, "Obviously, everyone will start screaming 'apartheid' and 'racism' now. This really doesn’t feel right, and maybe (the ministry) should find a different solution, but the situation right now is impossible."
Track of the Day
The thematic connection should be pretty obvious here....A-town down
Ynet reports: The Transportation Ministry announced that starting Sunday it will begin operating designated lines for Palestinians in the West Bank.
The bus lines in question are meant, according to the ministry, to transport Palestinian workers from the West Bank to central Israel. The ministry alleges that the move is meant to ease the congestion felt on bus lines used by Jews in the same areas, but several bus drivers told Ynet that Palestinians who will choose to travel on the so-called “mixed” lines, will be asked to leave them.
While officially the new lines are considered “general bus lines,” Ynet learned Saturday that their existence has been made public only in Palestinian villages in the West Bank, via flyers in Arabic urging Palestinians to arrive at Eyal crossing and use the designated lines.
The Transportation Ministry defended the plan, saying it was the result of reports and complaints saying that the buses traveling in the area were overcrowded and rife with tensions between the Jewish and Arab passengers.
About 9 ,months ago, an ultraOrthodox woman sat upfront on a gender segregated bus to protest the radicalization of religion in Israel. Most of the streams of ultraOrthodoxy don't support the segregated buses, nor the behaviour of some of the more extreme Haredi groups like the Sicarii. One Haredi attorney called it, "the vulgarization of religion that finds expression in the exclusion of women." and has called for the separation of religion and State.
What's interesting is that, despite probably having no knowledge of them, she uses identical language to some of the "protest churches", suggesting that there may well be a universal language shared by all religious people.
"Of course I was scared at first. The Haredim don't like things like this. They fear having their name and image publicized. I was afraid of what people would say, especially my family. But I went with my truth and I knew that without a name the act would be less credible, and so I decided to go public."
