Israel's project that will create segregated roads for settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank

- Author, Alaa Daraghme Y Muhannad Tutunji*
- Author's title, BBC Arabic Service
54 minutes

In a small hill in the Beduina of Jabal Al-Baba, east of Jerusalem, Abu Emad al-Jahalín, president of the Council of the Alab al-Jahalín village, sits in the shadow of a tree to protect himself from the scorching sun. From there contemplates Jerusalem, which is not far from his view, but is separated by a concrete wall and a military barrier.

Abu Emad points to the horizon and speaks with bitterness to the BBC: “This is the tissue of death … and not the fabric of life, as the Israelis call it.”

The road to which Abu EMAD refers, responsible for all the Beduine communities in the Jerusalem zone, is known as “tissue of life” and aims, according to Israeli authorities, allow the Palestinians to move between the north and south of the West Bank without going through the controls.

However, in reality, it will prevent them from accessing Route 1, the main road that connects southern Bank with the center and the north.

Several vehicles circulate on a road and pass under a sign that indicates the road to the settlement of Maale Adumim, which can be seen at the bottom of the image, on a hill. — Photo foot, Maale Adumim settlement is in a hill.

Abu Emad states that the Israeli authorities have recently issued 40 demolition and eviction orders of housing and agricultural farms in the Al Eizariya area.

The objective, he explains, is to connect the “Fabric of Life” road with the project known as “E1”, which will isolate Jerusalem of the West Bank and cut the geographical connection between them.

This project was presented last week by the Minister of Finance Israeli, the nationalist ultra -rightist Bezalel Smotrich.

The construction in the E1 zone is very controversial because this territory has been fundamental to maintain the territorial continuity of any future Palestinian state.

In the photo ABU EMAD appears on his back, in the shadow of a tree, dressed in a traditional black suit and with a Palestinian kufiya in the head, while looking towards Jerusalem. — Photo foot, The construction of the new road will be carried out in Palestinian housing land, according to Abu Emad.

“Apartheid”

This infrastructure, which Israel began calling “sovereignty road”, but then changed the name to “tissue of life”, was approved by the Israeli government last March.

According to the Israeli Paz organization, now, the construction of this infrastructure will create “a road of the apartheid“, A separate road system for Israelis and Palestinians. This will allow Israel to close the Palestinians a vast area in the heart of the West Bank by diverting Palestinian traffic to a special circumvaluation.

It will also allow, according to the group, to annex the entire Maale Adumim to Israel area and build the E1 plan.

In addition, this road system will force the Palestinians from the areas of Bethlehem and Hebron to travel through a tunnel to get to Jericho, in the Jordan Valley.

Map of the central area of the West Bank in which Jerusalem is seen and where the new E1 settlement would be built.

Abu Emad adds that the construction of the road will be carried out at the expense of dozens of Palestinian homes, in areas classified as C and B, which means the displacement of families and the loss of large extensions of land.

The Oslo II agreements divided in 1995 the West Bank into three zones: the A, which encompasses the Palestinian urban areas and that should be under civil and police control of the National Palestinian authority (ANP); The B, under Palestinian and military civil control Israeli, and zone C, with full Israeli military and civil control and which supposes around 60% of the territory. It is there where the settlements are.

A group of Beduine housing in a green zone, near which hills are seen with residential buildings on their peaks. The photo was taken during the day. — Photo foot, A Beduine community located next to the settlement of Maale Adumim and the town of Al Eizariya.

The Palestinians and organizations such as B zelem or Peace now denounce that Israel barely grants construction permits in Palestinian zone, while allows the proliferation of Jewish settlements.

To this is added that around 20% of the West Bank territory, mostly in the Jordan Valley, where water sources in the region are, have been designated by Israel as shooting areas for military training, where the Palestinians are prohibited from entry.

According to Abu Emad, “the construction of this road threatens to isolate 22 Palestinian communities, which extend from the surroundings of Maale Adumim settlement to the Dead Sea, to a measure that paves the way for the forced displacement of the population, by depriving it of access to schools, hospitals and public facilities in neighboring villages.”

Maale Adumim is one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It is only 4.5 kilometers from the Green Line, which separates Israel de facto from the Palestinian territories.

Abu Emad carries a gray suit and a Palestinian kufiya in the head, and is standing in a dusty zone. — Photo foot, Abu Emad states that the Israeli project moves the possibility of creating a Palestinian state.

Abu Emad, standing in front of Maale Adumim settlement, states that the colonization project extends from the east entrance of Al Eizariya, through Wadi's settlements to Jamal, Jabal al Baba and Wadi al Hod, until reaching the control post of Al Za'im.

Considers that, when controlling these lands, Israel intends to connect the Settlement of Maale Adumim with the city of Jerusalem.

He adds that “this connection means, in practice, the impossibility of establishing a geographically adjacent Palestinian state in these lands, since it will be impossible for any Palestine to move between the north and south of the West Bank without going through Israeli control stalls.”

Settlement plan after three decades

The E1 settlement project, proposed since 1990, has been subject to repeated execution attempts, which began with Ariel Sharon's plan to build 2,500 homes and were subsequently expanded in 2004 to about 4,000 homes with commercial and tourist facilities.

However, international pressure stopped its implementation.

Hills full of green bushes and stones, including paved streets. — Photo foot, Route 1, which connects the southern and the Cisjordan center.

Between 2009 and 2020 new phases were announced, which included the expropriation of land, the design and construction of roads, but the project was paralyzed on all occasions.

Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, approved on Wednesday night the construction of 3,401 homes within the settlement plan in zone E1, east of Jerusalem, after more than 20 years of stoppage of the project under international pressure.

Smotrich considered the decision as a “historical achievement”, stating that he effectively connects the settlement of Maale Adumim with Jerusalem, cuts the Arab connections between Ramala and Belén, and “buries the idea of creating a Palestinian state.”

During his speech, Smotrich thanked US president Donald Trump and ambassador Mike Huckabe to his support, and said that, in his opinion, Bucket is “an integral part of the land of Israel promised by God.”

He also announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports him in his plans to introduce a million new settlers in the West Bank.

Massive expansion of settlements

According to the Israeli Paz Movement, the new homes are a 33% increase in the size of the Maale Adumim settlement, whose current population is about 38,000 inhabitants.

The project connects the residential area with the surrounding industrial areas and paves the way to expand Israeli control over large areas of the West Bank, according to Paz now.

This organization, which monitors the activity of settlements, said that the Israeli Ministry of Housing has approved the construction of some 3,300 homes in Maale Adumim.

In a statement, he said that “the E1 plan is lethal for the future of Israel and for any opportunity to reach a peaceful solution of two states. We are on the edge of the abyss and the government pushes us quickly towards it.”

In the photo taken during the day you can see the buildings of the Maale Adumim colony, built on a hill and surrounded by trees. — Photo foot, Maale Adumim settlement, built east of Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the project and considered it “an attack on the unity of the Palestinian territory and a blow to the opportunity to create a state, in addition to undermining its geographical and demographic unit and consolidating the West Bank division in isolated areas, submerged in a colonial environment that facilitates its annexation.”

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized the plan and said that Jordania totally rejects it because it is considered an aggression “to the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with capital in Jerusalem east.”

For his part, Egypt strongly condemned the project, stating that it is “a flagrant violation of international law and the resolutions of the Security Council.”

*With additional information from Paula Rosas.