Bus drivers protest the danger on the road from Benjamin to Jerusalem: "The state is abandoning us"

An incident of throwing stones at a bus on the Hizma-Adam road occurred on average every day for the past month.

Now, against the background of the escalation in the territories, drivers, Jews and Arabs alike, are afraid to go to work and demand a solution.

"It's a terrorist attack for everything, a catastrophe to travel there. Maybe if a disaster happens they will understand"

Shlomi Heller

30/12/2021

Thursday, 30 December 2021, 22:10 Updated: 22:13

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In the video: Another case of stone-throwing between Ma'ale Adumim and Jerusalem (Edited by: Aviad Ballali)

The Hizma-Adam axis, a main road leading to the city of Jerusalem from the settlements of Benjamin, has in recent weeks become a hotbed of terror and fear for Israeli drivers and bus drivers in particular. This is due to stone-throwing by Palestinians from the villages of Hizma and Anata at road users.

The phenomenon of suicide rocks known road Judea and Samaria for years and has become an integral part of the routine, but last month more and more drivers are concerned for the safety and peace of passengers. In November, there were at least 27 incidents of stone throwing, while in December there were about 31 incidents of stone throwing at buses.

" If a line leaves Jerusalem and passes through the Hizma Anatot axis, 90 percent of it will pass safely but in return there is almost no chance that it will not snatch stones, "claims Eli Khamias, a bus driver and member of the workers' committee at Electra-Afikim." For five times a day. Hizma's guys throw stones without borders. "

Recently, in view of the escalation in stone-throwing and the increase in shooting incidents towards passengers, the shuttle companies have begun to protect the buses with protection also from gunfire.

But he said it was not a hermetic solution, "Yesterday the windshield of a bus protected from gunfire was shattered, when it is not stones, as we know it from the center of the country but rocks. A driver who snatches such a thing Allah will slay.

More on Walla!

6 stone-throwing incidents in one evening: The bus traffic between Ma'ale Adumim and Jerusalem was stopped

To the full article

Broken bus windshield (Photo: official website, power for workers)

"If you are a skilled driver and know the Hazima axis, you come to Rice and then they are not enough to smash the windshield, and smash only the sides of the bus. But it is just a catastrophe to travel there on the axis. The IDF is not doing enough to eradicate the phenomenon.

"When a usher tells the driver 'you're going to Benjamin' he is a gambler, he can not say at such and such a time there are no stones.

Stones on buses in the territories.

December 29, 2021 (Photo: Official website, Power for Workers)

"The state is abandoning us, if it becomes a routine then where is the army?", Khamias accuses.

"Every day, several times, we snatch it. Disabling a bus later means disabling lines, and if a driver is injured then a load accumulates. Because of the situation, 20 drivers decided to leave."

"When a driver travels at eighty or one hundred km / h and gets a stone, and accidentally he will divert the bus and the bus will overturn or a disaster will happen only then maybe they will understand," warns Kfir, another driver on the line.

The military does not ambush or capture them.

If they really wanted to catch them then it would happen. "

Bus stoned to death in East Jerusalem, October 19, 2021 (Photo: Official website, no)

Tamar Ohana, head of the transportation branch at Koach LaOvedim, claims that "drivers feel promiscuous. Every trip is an exit to the front. And endangers the driver. "

According to him, the responsibility for this situation lies with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Homeland Security.

"We are in dialogue with both ministries, but until the protection is changed, drivers and passengers are in danger. Wherever there is an exacerbation of the threat, we are realizing the existing labor dispute and shutting down the lines. The lives of drivers and passengers come first. We call on government officials That the stone threat will become a disaster. "

Stones on buses in the territories (Photo: Official website, Power for workers)

The head of the regional council, Benjamin Israel Ganz, says that "a state that allows itself to run alongside terrorism, and a government whose representatives incite against the settlers, is inviting more and more terrorism. We see this in the field. Minister Amar Bar-Lev .

The political echelon should back them up and allow them to drive an iron fist against the rioters.

No normal country contains such a chain of events.

Someone who found the first stone weakness invites a dangerous wave of terrorism. "

In response, the IDF said that it" makes tremendous efforts to eradicate the stone-throwing event space and runs arrest suspects. IDF soldiers are deployed in accordance with the assessment of the situation and use a variety of measures against persons Which tries to harm the security of citizens.

The IDF will continue to act against such incidents while strengthening the security of civilians.

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• Army and Security

Tags

• Judea and Samaria

• Benjamin

• Stone throwing

• shooting

• Palestinians

• Buses

• Hizma