lines resumed public services but under full British control rather than
Ottoman.69
Following WWI, British priorities shifted, and economic factors became
one of the central motives for developing the railway and transport
infrastructure network. Through its newly established Public Works
Department (PWD), the British built an extensive road network, which
served export interests and facilitated the movement of British troops and
police.70 Haifa was at the center of these plans, with British authorities
determined to transform it into an area of control for the benefit of
colonial rule in the Arab Region, as well as to protect the Suez Canal and
oil wells in the Gulf and India.71 Al-Lydd was another strategic crossroad
for major transport lines in Palestine.72 Its central geographic location
made it a hub with all main roads running to the north, south, east and
west, crossing through it. Recognizing this, the British developed Al-Lydd
into a strategic train junction with connections to Cairo, Egypt, Haifa,
Lebanon and Syria.73 Additionally, in 1937, an international airport was
built just to its north, ensuring Al-Lydd’s evolution into a city of major
economic importance. 74
2.1.1. Establishment of Zionist Political Power and Influence
Zionist leaders and major Zionist entities, the WZO and the JNF, clearly
understood that building transportation infrastructure was a precondition
for establishing their colonial enterprise.75 In this regard, they worked to
69 Id., 68-69.
70 Omar Salamanca, “Road 443: Cementing Dispossession, Normalizing Segregation and Disrupting
Everyday Life in Palestine,” in Stephen Graham and Colin McFarlane (eds.), Infrastructural Lives: Urban
Infrastructure in Context (London & New York: Routledge, 2015), 114-135.
71 Mansour, supra 60, 156.
72 Id., 123-144.
73 Isbir Munyer, Lydda During the Mandate and Occupation Periods (Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies,
1997), 13-14.
74 Built in 1936 during the British Mandate, the airport was named Wilhelma Airport. It was used as a military
airport during WWII, Israeli forces then seized control of it in 1948 and its name was changed to Al-Lydd
Airport. Since then its use has been strictly confined to those with Israeli citizenship and later on Palestinians
with Jerusalem residency. Today, it is known as ‘Ben-Gurion Airport,’ having been renamed in 1973, and
is a key transportation link, connecting the Israeli-Jewish population to the world, and isolating the vast
majority of the Palestinian community, who are largely forced into a long, stressful and inconvenient
trip through Jordan should they wish to access the rest of the world. See “Ben Gurion Airport,” Haaretz,
webpage, available at: https://www.haaretz.com/misc/tags/TAG-ben-gurion-airport-1.5598912 [accessed
28 February 2020]. See also “70 years of the Fall of the Twins of Palestine, Al-Lydd and Ramla 1948”
[Arabic], Arab 48, 19 January 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2uNZFcE [accessed 28 February 2020].
75 Salamanca, supra 70, 114-135.
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