Shocking story, from Ynet: “Ministry Launches ‘Palestinians Only’ Buses.” In the occupied territories, so that Jews don’t have to ride on buses jammed with Palestinians. I believe this is worse than conditions in Montgomery that Rosa Parks felt intolerable in the 1950s. When will this make the New York Times? Or J Street’s blog?
The Transportation Ministry announced that starting Sunday it will begin operating designated lines for Palestinians in the West Bank.
The bus lines in question are meant, according to the ministry, to transport Palestinian workers from the West Bank to central Israel. The ministry alleges that the move is meant to ease the congestion felt on bus lines used by Jews in the same areas, but several bus drivers told Ynet that Palestinians who will choose to travel on the so-called “mixed” lines, will be asked to leave them..
The Transportation Ministry defended the plan, saying it was the result of reports and complaints saying that the buses traveling in the area were overcrowded and rife with tensions between the Jewish and Arab passengers.
A ministry source said that many complaints expressed concern that the Palestinian passengers may pose a security risk, while other complaints said that the overcrowded buses cause the drivers to skip stations.
Well, this is just another part of a growing apartheid stucture. Apartheid is a cruel institution. With our own history of segregation on busses in the US South and other Jim Crow laws, this may resonate with Americans when and if the mainstream media start reporting on it.
“The Transportation Ministry defended the plan, saying it was the result of reports and complaints saying that the buses traveling in the area were overcrowded and rife with tensions between the Jewish and Arab passengers.”
I’m pretty sure they were not acting on complaints from the Arab passengers.
All done with our not-so-tacit consent/approval.
I am so sick of this– apartheid/bigotry toward/demonization of the Palestinians.
Thanks for keeping us informed, Phil.
How can you possibly compare Palestinian only busses to the harsh and cruel situation under Jim Crow? Palestinians get the full use of an entire bus and aren’t crowded into the rear having to walk the gauntlet just to get in and out like blacks in the South.
/sarcasm
In the U.S., no, not just the South, Americans would tell themselves and anyone else who would listen, that Negroes actually liked having their own areas to themselves, as a way of justifying de jure and de facto segregation. How long will it be until the Nathan Yahoo (!) et al., come up with this too?