Arson Hits Company Planning Separate West Bank Bus Lines for Jews and Arabs
Image by getty images
Police are investigating possible arson to two buses belonging to a company that began offering special bus lines to transport West Bank Palestinian passengers.
The buses belonging to the Afikim bus company caught fire Monday night in Kfar Kassem, an Arab-Israeli town about 20 miles east of Tel Aviv. Afikim was ordered to remove its buses immediately from the town.
The special bus lines, which will bring Palestinian passengers into central Israel, began Monday morning. They run from the Eyal checkpoint north of the West Bank Palestinian city of Kalkilya to several cities where the Palestinians have permits to work.
Some Palestinians rioted Monday morning when there were not enough buses to ferry all the Palestinian workers to their jobs.
The institution of the special lines is meant to ease the overcrowding of bus lines that go into Jewish settlements, the Transportation Ministry told Ynet. Palestinians may still take the regular buses.
Palestinians cannot enter Jewish settlements. They board the buses at stops on the Trans-Samaria Highway.
Jewish bus riders have complained that the buses were overcrowded and said they were concerned about security risks, Ynet reported. Jewish and Palestinian riders have scuffled verbally and physically on the buses, according to reports.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
