the outskirts. “This situation leads young people to migrate [displacing them]
from their villages and towns to other areas in search of places to live and
work.”357
Lack of public transport connections
Israel retains tight control over the public transport system, which is
predominately driven by Israeli-Jewish priorities. As a result, Israel is again
able to enact isolation policies against Umm al-Fahm which deprive it of
public transport options both within the city and local areas, and regionally
to other Palestinian centers. This is reflected in a number of Israeli decisions
and practices.
•
Only in 2014 did Umm al-Fahm get localized bus services:358 Until
2010, Israel had never provided any bus services to Palestinian
localities,359 and now, Umm al-Fahm has four services within the city
that run regularly.360 However, this city’s bus service is still largely
inadequate as it only runs one limited service to nearby Ar’ara and
two slightly more frequent, though still irregular, services to Basma
and Ma’ale Iron.361 Notably, these buses do not operate on Fridays,
Saturdays or on Jewish holidays. Moreover, street names, bus stations
and announcements are solely in Hebrew,362 creating a feeling of
alienation for Palestinian users and amounting to a service poorly
adapted to Palestinian customers’ needs.
•
Absence of direct and regular connections between key Palestinian
centers: There are a number of highly irregular bus services running
between Umm al-Fahm and a limited number of Palestinian centers,
including Haifa, Nazareth, Jisr al-Zarqa, and Baqa al-Gharbiyye.363
These services depart only from the main terminal at Umm al-Fahm,
and thus require additional connections if the terminal is not within
357 Ibid.
358 Naomi Zeveloff, “After Terror Attack, Israel Funding for Arab Towns May Come With Strings Attached,”
Forward, 14 January 2016, available at: https://forward.com/news/329914/after-terror-attack-israelfunding-boost-for-arab-towns-comes-with-strings/ [28 February 2020].
359 Ron Friedman, “Arab villages get bus routes,” Jerusalem Post, 12 July 2010, available at: https://www.
jpost.com/Israel/Arab-villages-get-bus-routes [accessed 28 February 2020].
360 Lines 2, 3, 4 and 6 operated by Kavim, See Israel’s Public Transportation Info Center, available at:
https://bit.ly/31KUtDa [accessed 28 February 2020].
361 Lines 38, 39, 62. See Ibid.
362 Jabbarin, supra 281.
363 Timetables for 44 (Yanuh Jat), 241 (Gisr A Zarka), 296 and 248 (Haifa), 720 and 750 (Nazareth). See
supra 361.
88
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