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Israel scraps scheme to ban Palestinians from buses Israel scraps scheme to ban Palestinians from buses
(35 minutes later)
A ban on Palestinians who work in Israel from returning home to the West Bank on Israeli buses that service settlements has been suspended within hours of its instigation on Wednesday morning. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has cancelled a pilot scheme banning Palestinian workers from Israeli buses in the occupied territories – denounced as tantamount to apartheid – only hours after it was announced.
Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, ordered that the pilot plan be suspended after the rightwing defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, had approved the scheme. The plan had been approved by Netanyahu’s defence minister, Moshe Yaalon,, but was cancelled amid fierce criticism from Israeli opposition figures, human rights groups and a former minister in Netanyahu’s own party, who said it was a “stain on the face Israel” that would damage its international image.
Opposition figures had described the plan as a humiliation and tantamount to apartheid. The move had been enthusiastically welcomed by settler groups and pro-settlement MPs who had long been lobbying for the ban.
This is how apartheid looks. There is no better or nicer way to put it. The three month pilot scheme – which had been due to come into force on Wednesday – would have imposed strict new controls on thousands of Palestinians with permits to work in Israel, insisting they travel home through certain designated checkpoints and banning them from using Israeli run buses in the occupied West Bank.
“The decision to separate Palestinians and Jews on public transportation is an unnecessary humiliation that is a stain on the state and its citizens,” the Israeli opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, wrote on his Facebook page. The timing of the scheme’s launch – during visits by world football head Sepp Blatter and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini – had seemed bizarre. Blatter is seeking to defuse moves to have a vote on Israel’s suspension from Fifa for alleged discrimination against Palestinians.
“This is another one of the prime minister’s mistakes, who is giving in to and supporting a horrible decision that has no connection to the security of the state,” Herzog added. The Israeli opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, had immediately condemned the scheme.
“The decision to separate Palestinians and Jews on public transportation is an unnecessary humiliation that is a stain on the state and its citizens,” Herzog wrote on his Facebook page.
“This is another one of the prime minister’s [Benjamin Netanyahu’s] mistakes who is giving in to and supporting a horrible decision that has no connection to the security of the state,” the opposition leader added.
The leader of Israel’s leftwing Meretz party, Zahava Gal-On, said: “This is how apartheid looks. There is no better or nicer way to put it. Separate buses for Jews and Palestinians prove that democracy and occupation cannot co-exist.”The leader of Israel’s leftwing Meretz party, Zahava Gal-On, said: “This is how apartheid looks. There is no better or nicer way to put it. Separate buses for Jews and Palestinians prove that democracy and occupation cannot co-exist.”
The arrangement – which also drew immediate criticism from human rights groups – would have meant not only that Palestinians with permits to work in Israel would be unable to return home on buses used by Jews, but also that they would be required to leave Israel through the same checkpoint they entered, adding several hours to daily journeys. This is how apartheid looks. There is no better or nicer way to put it.
Yariv Oppenheimer, the head of Israel’s Peace Now, described the scheme as “an ugly and racist policy that has no place in a democratic society”. The move had also been criticised by Gideon Saar, a former interior minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party who had warned it would damage “Israel’s image around the world” adding, “It cannot remain in place.”
He added: “Security calculations are a cover for the settlers’ wanting to abuse the Palestinians and not see them, God forbid, on their way home to the settlement.” The new arrangement had first been mooted last year but was not implemented. Under the scheme – slated to initially last three months - Palestinians entering Israel via the Rayhan, Hala, Eliyahu and Eyal checkpoints would only be able return home via the same checkpoints through which they left the West Bank.
The arrangement was first mooted last year after lobbying by settler organisations, but was not implemented. Under the scheme – slated to last three months initially – Palestinians entering Israel via the Rayhan, Hala, Eliyahu and Eyal checkpoints would only be able return home via the same checkpoints through which they left the West Bank. Palestinians with entry permits – mainly working in the construction industry – currently enter Israel through smart crossings that register them and are then allowed to return by public transportation with no need to register on their return.
Palestinians with entry permits – mainly working in the construction industry – enter Israel through smart crossings, which register them, and are then allowed to return by public transport with no need to register on their return. The details of the new arrangement had been widely reported on Wednesday morning and confirmed by an Israeli defence official, who said: “Under a three-month pilot project, Palestinians who work in Israel will, starting Wednesday, need to return home by the same crossing without taking buses used by (Israeli) residents” of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians would also have been banned from using the Israeli Afik bus service, which runs along route 5 to the huge West Bank settlement of Ariel, and which they had shared with settlers, instead being required to use Palestinian public transport. According to the Israeli website Walla, implementation of the plan was initially held up for several months following the concern of senior military officials whose objections were eventually overruled by Yaalon, who reportedly argued that it was necessary to supervise Arabs returning to the West Bank.
Before the ban was lifted, an Israeli defence official said: “Under a three-month pilot project, Palestinians who work in Israel will, starting Wednesday, need to return home by the same crossing without taking buses used by (Israeli) residents” of the occupied West Bank. There was fresh violence in Jerusalem on Wednesday when Israeli police shot dead a driver in a Palestinian neighbourhood of East Jerusalem after he allegedly rammed them with his car, injuring two female officers.
According to the Israeli website Walla, implementation of the plan was initially held up for several months following concerns from senior military officials. Their objections were eventually overruled by Ya’alon, who reportedly argued that it was necessary to supervise Arabs returning to the West Bank.
Settlers groups have long been campaigning to have Palestinian workers banned from the buses they use, including in evidence to the last Knesset, where they claimed they faced harassment from Palestinians using the bus services.