Palestinian activists highlight West Bank separation

Nov 15, 2011, 13:44 GMT

Ramallah - Palestinian activists Tuesday boarded a bus normally used by Jewish settlers, in a bid to highlight what they call Israel's policy of 'separation' between the West Bank's Palestinian and settler population.

Six activists, accompanied by scores of local journalists, gathered at a bus stop east of Ramallah and near the Jewish settlement of Psagot, used by an Israeli bus company.

Three buses passed the throng without stopping, but the activists were able to board a fourth.

The activists, in white T-Shirts with slogans such as 'dignity' and 'freedom,' and wearing checkered Arab headdresses, said they wanted to see how the settlers would react and if Israeli soldiers would allow them through a roadblock on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

No law exists preventing Palestinians from using Israeli buses.

But Palestinians customarily use those run by Palestinian companies, while Jewish settlers use those run by the Israeli Egged bus cooperative, which are often armoured for protection against firebombs and shooting attacks by Palestinian militants.

Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, Israel has used army roadblocks to cut off sections of West Bank roads, used exclusively by settlers to reach their communities.

Israel says the measures are in place for security reasons, after Palestinian gunmen ambushed Israeli motorists.

Palestinians, however, charge that the security measures have created a de facto separation, which causes disproportionate infringements of their rights, most notably freedom of movement.

'Our goal is not to get on the buses, it is to show Israel's apartheid policy and segregation,' one activist, Hurriya Ziada, told reporters.

More than 300,000 Jewish settlers live in 121 Jewish settlements across the occupied territory, among some 2.4 million Palestinians