Israel’s segregation policy, which pursues projects designed exclusively to suit Israeli-Jewish priorities, with deliberate disregard for the impact on Palestinian communities. The Begin Highway is a key piece of transportation infrastructure providing efficient re-oriented access between the Etzion Colonial Bloc around Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ma’ale Adumim colony and eventually Tel Aviv.238 At the same time, large swathes of private land were expropriated from Palestinian residents of the town, resulting in several families being cut off from the center of the village, who are now required to take longer routes to access shops, schools and other daily vital services.239 Prior to the construction of the Apartheid Wall and the Israeli military permit system, a direct line between Bethlehem and Beit Safafa transported Palestinians between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. This line, similar to other roads and lines, still exists, but Palestinians are not allowed to utilize it as accorded in the Paris Protocol. Israel also prohibits Palestinian bus companies from operating in Jerusalem. The Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Bethlehem and the Ubeidiya bus companies have all suffered financially by these prohibitions on transportation, and Palestinians who once had easy access to Jerusalem via Beit Safafa through the means of public transportation, are now forced to travel to Jerusalem via Checkpoint 300. Dr. Samir Hazboun, Board Chairman, Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry Interview: Bethlehem, 28 November 2019 3.1.2. De-development: Deteriorating Social, Economic and Political Environment “Growing class inequality combined with territorial divisions has intensified the fragmentation of Palestinian society.”240 Israel’s policies of fragmentation and isolation have substantially undermined Bethlehem’s potential to grow residentially and industrially, especially considering the limited access that the governorate has to its natural resources. 238 Global Research – Centre for Research on Globalization, “Israel’s ‘Begin Highway’ Serves the Expansion of Illegal Settlements in Occupied Palestine,” webpage, 26 April 2013, available at: https://www. globalresearch.ca/israels-begin-highway-serves-the-expansion-of-illegal-settlements-in-occupiedpalestine/5333100 [accessed 28 February 2019] 239 Bimkom, supra 237. 240 Clarno, supra 5, 99. 66