GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israelis and Palestinians appear to be edging toward a technological confrontation that some see as an extension of their escalating physical conflict.
On March 3, Israel's West Bank settlements committee asked the government to prohibit the use of a smartphone application designed to help Palestinian commuters navigate myriad Israeli security checkpoints. Committee member Saji Keisler told the BBC that Palestinians could use the app to communicate information on soldiers' locations and put their lives at risk.
Checkpoints separating Palestinian towns can make commuters miserable, forcing them to waste several hours navigating strict Israeli security measures. Israeli soldiers open and close these checkpoints unpredictably and seem to inspect vehicles and individuals at random. The number of checkpoints throughout the West Bank keeps expanding, reaching more than 400 by the end of 2015.
The delays prompted a young Palestinian studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to design an app called Azmeh (Arabic for "traffic jam"). The crowdsourced app invites commuters to post information about checkpoint conditions as they pass through, allowing other users to check ahead of time on the traffic situation at the specific checkpoint they intend to cross.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
