Resident of the Arab village of Um-Tuba, located adjacent to the eastern Gush Etzion yishuv of Nokdim (El-David) are demanding they be permitted to use the new Nokdim-Jerusalem Road.

The road was just opened this week, permitting Jewish residents of the communities of Nokdim and Tekoa to travel to and from the capital without passing Arab villages, the round-about route via Efrat and Route 60.

In the pre-Intifada days, residents of eastern Gush Etzion traveled to and from the capital via Bet Lechem and Beit Sachur, but those areas have long been handed over to the PA, off limits to Israelis.

That compelled eastern Gush residents to take Highway 60 past Efrat, and continuing via a number of Arab villages, lengthening the trip and making it significantly more of a security risk.

Security officials are not permitting Arabs on the new road, even those carrying blue Israeli identification cards.

Um-Tuba residents stated that their land was expropriated for the road and they cannot see why they should not be permitted to travel on the road.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)