Israel allows Palestinian buses to again move city to city

NABLUS, West Bank -- For the first time in two years, Palestinians are boarding buses with the hope of riding past Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank.

But some didn't make it, leaving them to wonder whether Israel is really serious about easing travel restrictions.

"They are not going to ease any conditions ... Every soldier here behaves as a gang leader," Ibrahim Abdullah grumbled Wednesday after his bus ride was stopped at an Israeli checkpoint south of the city.

Israel announced Monday that it would allow Palestinians to run buses between towns and cities, easing travel restrictions that have kept Palestinian cities sealed throughout 26 months of fighting.

But Palestinians must still have permission to travel from the Israeli military.

The restrictions are intended to keep suicide bombers from reaching Israeli cities but they have ruined the Palestinian economy.

Bus company owner Abdel Rahim Tamimi used to run a fleet of 43 buses between Nablus and Ramallah, the West Bank's commercial center. But he had to fire all his drivers after Israel banned the buses.

On Wednesday, he began again with 10 buses, trying to make the 20 mile journey to Ramallah. At the checkpoint south of the city, the passengers at the get out and go through security checks. Those who had permission to travel were allowed to board other buses waiting on the other side.

But some were turned away, including 47-year-old Abdullah.

Usually Abdullah reaches his auto parts store in Ramallah through an everchanging network of hilly, unpaved back roads, a journey that can easily turn treacherous if he encounters Israeli soldiers.

But on Wednesday he set out from the center of Nablus on a bus with 25 passengers. Curious residents gathered near to ask if they could really leave the city, if soldiers would allow them to pass, if it is safe and if they needed permits.

The bus was first stopped in the center of town, where an Israeli tank and some soldiers divide the city. A soldier stepped into the door and asked for the driver's ID before allowing the bus to continue.

But Abdullah didn't get past the checkpoint south of the city and had to return to Nablus on foot while passengers who did clear security continued their journey in another bus.

It was impossible to tell just how many passengers were turned away in the confused, chaotic crowds. A spokesman for Israel's military government in the West Bank did not respond to telephone messages Wednesday.

But another was Maher Hamaiel, 39, from the village of Beita, south of Nablus.

Hamaiel was trying to bring his 12-year-old daughter Hiba to see a doctor in Nablus. The girl, in a school uniform, had a visible infection in one of her eyes.

Soldiers were heard telling the man in Hebrew that the girl could pass by herself. Hamaiel screamed at the soldiers, "You are not human, you are monsters," and refused to hand over his identity card. A soldier punched the man in the neck.

Other bus passengers broke up the scuffle and the man and his daughter left.