Public transport: Segregating the Israeli-Jewish populations from the
Palestinian communities
Another example of restricted public transport is that of Jerusalem,
where the Apartheid Wall,130 checkpoint, other physical road obstacles
and unfavorable traffic light flows131 suppress and inhibit the freedom of
movement for Palestinians. At the same time, a light rail system connecting
east and west Jerusalem ensures that colonizers can move freely and
efficiently on and across both sides of the Green Line.132 Looking ahead,
Israel and the Jerusalem municipality intend for this system to incorporate
all the Jerusalem-area colonies in the West Bank.133 In providing this
infrastructure along with other economic incentives,134 Israeli-Jews are
encouraged to move to these colonies, dramatically increasing their
population size and facilitating the almost complete isolation of Jerusalem
from other Palestinian communities.
The high-speed rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem provides another
more recent example of segregation and isolation in the West Bank. Israel
built a rail-link from Al-Lydd Airport (now known as Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion
Airport) to Jerusalem that cuts through parts of the occupied West Bank.135
The line runs through the Palestinian village of Beit Surik and in the Latrun
Valley, leading to the confiscation of significant amounts of Palestinian
130 The Wall is rooted in an Israeli plan that was placed in 1967, and then further developed in 1970
with the goal of annexing part of the West Bank but not in the current route of the Wall. In 1983,
the plan was suggested officially. See Khalil Tafkaji, “The Wall Aims to Take Control of the Land”
[Arabic], Aljazeera, available at: https://www.aljazeera.net/specialfiles/pages/c0841f79-2505-460eac5b-cef28dd630bd [accessed 28 February 2020]. When the wall will be completed, approximately
10.2 percent of West Bank territory, including East Jerusalem, will be isolated by it and physically
connected to Israel. OCHA, supra 128..
131 “Discrimination Against Palestinians in Jerusalem Extends to Traffic Lights” [Arabic], Paltoday, 25 May 2013,
available at: https://paltoday.ps/ar/post/168856 [accessed 28 February 2020].
132 The Jerusalem light rail connects large Israeli colonial blocs in occupied East Jerusalem with
the western part of the city, expropriating occupied Palestinian land and promoting increased
territorial contiguity for colonies alongside growing territorial fragmentation for East Jerusalem’s
Palestinian neighborhoods. See Who Profits The Israeli Occupation Industry, “Tracking Annexation
– The Jerusalem Light Rail and the Israeli Occupation” (July 2017), available at: https://whoprofits.
org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/old/tracking_annexation_-_the_jerusalem_light_rail_and_the_
israeli_occupation.pdf
133 Ibid.
134 Florian Mebes, “Israel Lures Settlers with Financial Incentives,” Made for Minds, 31 December 2012,
available at: https://www.dw.com/en/israel-lures-settlers-with-financial-incentives/a-16487892
[accessed 28 February 2020].
135 "Israel Uses Occupied Palestinian Lands for High-Speed Rail Link," New Arab, 26 September 2018,
available at: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/9/26/israel-uses-occupied-palestinianlands-for-high-speed-rail-link [accessed 28 February 2020].
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