from Bethlehem city without passing through an Israeli-built/controlled road, checkpoint and/or barrier.228 Although our village is a peaceful village, the Israeli occupying forces automatically close the village whenever a security issue arises (according to the Israelis) either in Bethlehem or Hebron. The Israelis installed a metal gate at the village’s main entrance, so that they can separate us from the rest of the Palestinian areas [by closing the gate]. Unfortunately, this occurs more than once a week, which forces us to take rough roads to enter or exit our village. For example, [when the closure is implemented] it’s about a 30 km trip to reach Bethlehem, compared to it being 15 km when its open. Mr. Hussein al-Sheikh, Lawyer and Head of the Village Council, Marah Rabah Interview: Marah Rabah, 11 April 2020 • Impediments to public transport access: Israeli colonies and associated road and security infrastructure severely impact on the access that villages have to public transport into Bethlehem. Drivers and passengers alike suffer from fear of travel in heavily colonized areas, as there is a high risk of interaction with aggressive colonizers and the Israeli military. This results in limited access and refusal of taxi drivers and others to travel through and into these areas, particularly at night and if there has been heightened tensions.229 This has a consequential impact on availability of public transport generally, with all serveeses and buses stopping around 6-7 pm, making night time travel dependent on private car ownership or private taxis, which are prohibitively expensive to many Palestinians.230 The impacts of these policies are felt particularly heavily in the villages themselves, with resilience and capacity to remain in these locations undermined. This in turn has the effect of concentrating these rural populations into Bethlehem’s urban areas. An example of this is found in the village of Wadi Rahhal. Wadi Rahhal village and its hamlets of al-Beida, al-Thubra and an-Nahla are located 5.7 km south of Bethlehem. 231 Access to the area now runs past the Efrat colony (via Route 60), which lies along the western boundary of the village, with an invisible security apparatus separating the two from each other. 228 Jaber, supra 117. 229 Mohamad Atallah, Resident of Beit Sakarya and Member of the Village Council, interview conducted by BADIL, 11 October 2017. 230 Mariam Sa’ed, Resident of Beit Sakarya, interview conducted by BADIL, 8 November 2017; Yusra, Resident of Wadi Rahhal, interview conducted by BADIL, 9 November 2017. 231 ARIJ, “Wadi Rahhal Village Profile” (2010), 4, available at: http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/VP/ Wadi%20Rahhal_vp_en.pdf 63