The road that divides two peoples

IN THE valley beneath an impoverished town in the Judean desert hills near Jerusalem lies the latest innovation in Israel's 40-year occupation of the West Bank: a motorway with a 16ft-high wall in the middle to separate Israeli and Palestinian traffic.

Palestinians say it is apartheid South Africa transplanted to the West Bank, while the liberal Israeli Haaretz newspaper mockingly calls it a "binational ethnic separation highway". Israeli officials say the road will benefit Palestinians and that the apartheid comparison is "rubbish".

The road, built on land expropriated by Israel from Anata residents, is nearing completion at a sensitive time in Middle East diplomacy, with Israeli and Palestinian leaders readying for a US-brokered peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, later this month.

It is situated on a crucial piece of land, adjoining an area known as E1 in which Israel hopes to build a huge expansion to the sprawling Maale Adumim settlement. Doing so will cut the West Bank in half and deprive the Palestinians of territorial contiguity for their future state.

"I don't see anything positive coming from Annapolis, I see settlements expanding at the expense of the non-expansion of Palestinian towns," said Anata's mayor, Mohammed Allan. He added that, along with a section of the West Bank separation barrier that already cuts Anata off from Jerusalem, the new road "completely closes the town in all directions and makes it a ghetto".

The Israeli side of the new road, under the supervision of the Israeli transport ministry, will provide Jewish settlers in the West Bank with easy access to Israel's capital in Jerusalem and Israel's hinterland.

The Palestinian side, under the control of the Israeli army, will enable Palestinians to travel from the north to the south of the West Bank, but will have no exits for accessing Jerusalem, traditionally the major Palestinian economic centre, in addition to its nationalist and religious resonance.

But Israel believes the 53ft-wide road provides "transportational contiguity" to the Palestinians and that it should therefore not be required by the international community to relinquish sufficient territory to enable a viable Palestinian state.

"The idea is to create a route going from one part of Palestinian territory to another without passing Israeli roadblocks," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry. "This is not a perfect and beautiful solution, but it is workable and provides movement and access for Palestinians," he said, adding that it was decided to use just one divided road rather than two routes "because it is quicker, more efficient, and saves money".

Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, the director of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs termed the road "a copy of the old apartheid system in South Africa, of how South Africa succeeded in separating two entities and two societies. The implementation of this road will mean that Palestinians are totally cut off from the Old City of Jerusalem, and separated from each other, while Israelis [in the West Bank] are given clear, safe, ongoing connections with Israel in terms of society and neighbourhoods".

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, yesterday met David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to discuss preparations for the Annapolis summit. The Israeli cabinet approved the release of 441 Palestinian prisoners in advance of the summit. The Palestinian Authority had asked that 2,000 releases be approved.

BLAIR'S FOUR PEACE PROJECTS

THE Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, gave details yesterday of four international projects aimed at bolstering the Palestinian economy as part of efforts to end the conflict with Israel.

Flanked by the Palestinian prime minister and Israeli defence minister, he said the projects were integral to peace efforts.

One of the schemes, which is funded by the World Bank, is to improve sewerage in the Gaza Strip. It has been approved by Israel, despite the area being what it calls an "enemy entity" that is controlled by Hamas.

"It's not a substitute in any way for the politics, for the work that will go on in Annapolis," Mr Blair said of next week's Middle East peace conference. "It will not by itself transform the future. But it is a strong beginning for a critical part of this process."

Mr Blair said work could begin on creating industrial and commercial zones in the West Bank cities of Jericho and Hebron, largely funded by Japan and Turkey, and improving tourist access and facilities at Bethlehem.