Blockades fuel Palestinian anger

Roadblocks make movement difficult

Chris Morris in Bethlehem examines how the Israeli blockade of towns in the West Bank affects daily life for Palestinians

Huge concrete blocks have been spread across the main road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Palestinian vehicles are turned away. Israel has stepped up its blockade of the West Bank.

Following the drive-by killings of four Israelis on Monday, travel between Palestinian towns and cities has been severely restricted.

A few back roads are open for those willing to bump across the scrubland, but many people are stuck.

At one new blockade on the edge of the town of Beit Jala, a school bus is waiting for its passengers.

"I used to come through here normally", says the driver. "Now I wait on this side of the road block for the other school bus to come, so I can take everyone back to their villages."

Nightly ritual

Rami Shehadeh works in Ramallah and lives just downhill from the blockade. Now, like many others, he's fed up.

Residents say they are living in a war zone

"I wasn't allowed through the checkpoint", he says, "and all previous permits have been cancelled. The whole situation is ridiculous, the Palestinians are being humiliated."

After seven weeks of violence, well over 200 people have been killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

But the suffering isn't confined to one side - Jewish settlers are also being targetted. The Israeli army says it will not tolerate ambushes, and it's not prepared to fight a long war of attrition.

Tougher measures

Some Israelis want much tougher measures and argue that Prime Minister Ehud Barak is being too cautious after seven weeks of escalating violence.

Some Israelis favour even tougher measures against the Palestinians

"I believe that our army knows exactly what to do", said opposition Member of Parliament Meir Sheetrit.

"I would like to arrive at a situation in which Palestinians will be begging the US to stop the Israelis. Then let's come to talk again."

In the centre of Bethlehem, the effects of the blockade are biting hard. Local kids kick a football around Manger Square, there are no tourists, and bitterness is on the rise.

Economic conditions are bad enough already. Palestinians have been banned from entering Israel for the last six weeks; now they can't even travel around the West Bank.

War zone

But Ibrahim, a local businessman, argued that people are prepared to make the sacrifice, if that's what it takes.

"During the usual times", he says, "you might buy chicken or a kilo of meat. But during this time you buy just the necessary things because you are in a war zone."

Almost every night, and sometimes during the day, Beit Jala witnesses a heavy exchange of fire, most of it coming from Israeli troops in a Jewish settlement across the valley.

Civilians on both sides are right in the firing line and for now, those seeking compromise are struggling to make their voices heard.