How Israel Is Increasingly Privatizing the Occupation of the West Bank

The sun had barely risen and Khairy Masoud, 57, was already in trouble. The father of eight had just passed through the Israeli military checkpoint separating his home in the disputed West Bank and Israel, where he’s worked in manual labor for more than 20 years. It was a chilly February morning and he was dressed in baggy pants and a sweater.

Masoud slouched as he eyed the armed Israeli guard who had just confiscated his work permit and identification card—his most important documents. His infraction: Masoud had been walking toward the large outdoor lot, where Palestinian workers wait for employers to pick them up, when a piece of tissue fell from his pocket, he said. Another Palestinian walking with him flicked a cigarette to the ground. The guard apprehended them for littering.

A decade ago this checkpoint, known as Sha’ar Efraim in Hebrew and al-Tayba in Arabic, was among the first to hire private security guards rather than deploy conscripted Israeli soldiers. The creeping privatization of security linked to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem often goes unnoticed, but critics say it is another way that Israel is cementing the status quo and reducing the chances of a Palestinian state and an end to decades of conflict.

 

Read More: How Israel Is Increasingly Privatizing the Occupation of the West Bank