Bus Ban On Palestinians ‘Reeks Of Apartheid State’

Palestinians are to be banned from all Israeli buses in the occupied West Bank for security reasons, in a move that critics say “reeks of apartheid”.

Following pressure from the Israeli settler movement, the 85,000 Arabs from the territory who work in the Jewish state will have to make their own travel arrangements to get to the border checkpoint, north of Tel Aviv, before catching a bus to their jobs from within mainland Israel.

Currently they are able to take the same buses as the Israelis, travelling through the West Bank via several settlements before heading into mainland Israel.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4249602.ece

Segregated Buses – But Why The Silence?

The odious order by Israel for separate bus services for Palestinians and settlers on the West Bank has led, quite rightly, to outrage and comparisons to Apartheid-era South Africa or racial segregation in the American south. The supposed justification – Palestinians who had passed rigorous security checks to work in Israel had been refused entry onto mixed buses or were removed by police because of settlers’ complaints – was equally disquieting.

While the international media and even some Israeli human rights groups condemned this abhorrent proposal for punishing innocent Palestinians instead of the settlers’ bigotry, what was curious was the Palestinian Authority’s failure to lead the publicity about it.

As the British parliamentary vote to recognise a Palestinian state showed, global public opinion is the Palestinians’ most effective weapon to end the occupation. Their cause needs not just a Palestinian Rosa Parks but also a homegrown Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/editorial/segregated-buses--but-why-the-silence

AG Orders Ya'alon: Explain Why Palestinians Banned From Israeli-Run Buses In West Bank

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Monday demanded that Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon explain his decision to ban Palestinian workers from Israeli-run bus lines in the West Bank, following publication of a report in Haaretz.

An official in Ya’alon’s bureau said on Sunday that the decision to prohibit Palestinian workers from using settlers’ bus lines had been made for security reasons only, and that its purpose is to protect citizens inside the Green Line.

According to the decision, from December on, Palestinian workers who enter Israel for work in Greater Tel Aviv and in the Sharon region will have to return to the West Bank via the Eyal checkpoint, and they will not be allowed to return on buses traveling to Ariel on the Trans-Samaria Highway.

The employee of the defense minister’s bureau said, “The decision will not prevent Palestinians from going to work and continuing to make a living. No one is stopping the Palestinians from continuing to work inside Israeli territory and reaching their destinations. The opposite is true. This is purely a security-related matter, and its purpose is to supervise the entries and exits into Israeli territory, thereby reducing the chances of terror attacks inside Israeli territory.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.623036