It did not take long for the new Israeli right-wing government to show how extreme it is. Less than two weeks after it was created, it announced the launch of separate buses for Palestinians and Jews in the West Bank, an idea straight out of apartheid-era South Africa. The plan would have in effect barred Palestinians from using Israeli public transportation between the West Bank and Israel. Instead, they would have to use specially designated buses on which they would not mix with Jewish settlers. Not that mixing with Jewish settlers was ever a joyous day out, but the very notion of such a separation is discriminatory, racist and harks back to America's highly charged civil rights days. Instead of being free to travel home from Israel on any bus heading to the West Bank, the workers would have been required to return only on buses which went back to the checkpoint where they entered Israel - thus denying them access to shared buses which do not go to the checkpoints. The new plan would have forced Palestinians to undergo security checks on the way home as well, lengthening their commute. The policy, which was about to be implemented on Wednesday, was one of the first decisions by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's newly inaugurated conservative government. It never got off the ground after Netanyahu effectively overruled Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, whose department created the plan. The timing of the plan could not have been worse, coming shortly before European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini was set to visit the region and who is already highly critical of Israeli policies in the West Bank. The government reversal came across as a scramble, but the damage was done after a chorus of condemnation. Even if Mogherini had not been visiting, there was absolutely no need for such a blatantly bigoted decision. If the authorities feel the need to tighten security, monitor Palestinians entering Israel and reduce the risk of illegal entry, the wall of separation has pretty much taken care of Israel's security needs. As for complaints from Jewish settlers about riding on buses with Palestinians, it is the Palestinians who should be complaining and worried about being on buses with Jewish settlers, many of whom are dangerous and more than capable of violence. But this is what the Palestinians get from Netanyahu's new right-wing coalition which includes the Jewish Home Party, whose leader supports settlement building in the West Bank and has previously said that Palestinians should forget about statehood. Should these new hawks show any enthusiasm for continued peace talks with the Palestinians, it will simply provide cover for Israel's continued expansion of Jewish settlements and to preclude the emergence of anything resembling a Palestinian state in the West Bank. What Israeli officials thought of doing is a reminder of seminal events in the US civil rights movement, such as when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Or the Montgomery bus boycott against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. Or the 3.5 million non-white South Africans who were removed from their homes, and forced into segregated neighborhoods where black people were deprived of their citizenship and political representation, while Pretoria segregated education, medical care and beaches. We all know what happened after. Both South Africa and the US elected blacks to the highest office in the land. These countries are still far from perfect race-wise, but the victims fought back until they won many of their rights. So, too, the Palestinians must continue the struggle.
