Brussels, 06/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU has called on the Israeli government to provide it with explanations concerning bus services for Palestinian workers, according to a statement by the spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on 6 March. In reply to a question put to her by EUROPE, the spokesperson explained that, “the EU delegation in Israel is therefore seeking clarifications on the nature of these new bus lines and the manner in which individuals can access them”. The spokesperson explained that “the EU has noted the statement issued by Israel's Ministry of Transport yesterday that it is not possible legally to prevent any bona fide passenger from boarding any line of public transportation, the new arrangements seem also designed to reduce the number of Palestinians travelling on bus routes popular with Israeli settlers”. She explained that it appears that these bus services are additional services designed to accommodate Palestinian workers travelling into Israel, and that the bus stops for these are in locations where it is, at the very least, extremely unlikely that Israeli settlers would also be boarding, although they are unsure of their location at this point. She stated that, “this has raised a number of concerns, not least by both Palestinian and Israeli individuals and groups, with regard to segregation in public transport”.
MEPs concerned by segregation
S&D MEP Véronique de Keyser (Belgium) emphasised that buses were just one of a whole number of elements of a policy that resembled apartheid. She explained to EUROPE that, “we are moving towards an apartheid system, we are not completely there yet but it is being justified in the name of security”. She also highlighted the issue of the wall and motorways reserved for Israelis and said that, “this is nothing new, and is just another piece in the puzzle”. She said that she hoped that the European institutions would develop dialogue with the Israelis and, “show that segregation and apartheid are contrary to the values in our agreements”.
Her colleague from the GUE, Paul Murphy (Ireland) said that the measure “is clearly part of a racist segregationist policy”. He alluded to segregation on the buses in the US up until 1956 and explained that “now the Israeli state wants to go even further than that, with segregation by buses. The argument that it has anything to do with security is also a racist argument that sees Palestinians as terrorists by virtue of being Palestinians”. (CG/transl.fl)