On the Road in the West Bank: How Basma FM Became a Lifeline Amid Checkpoints and Settler Violence

Driving across the occupied West Bank used to be a simple affair – a short hop from Ramallah to Bethlehem or a quick run to the market. Today, that same journey can stretch into hours, or simply never happen at all.

Most Palestinians no longer ask, "What time will he be home?" because the answer is riddled with uncertainty. Roads close without warning, checkpoints open and shut in a matter of minutes, and the threat of settler attacks looms on many routes.

Before getting behind the wheel, many people scour WhatsApp and Telegram groups that have turned into informal traffic bureaus. These chats don’t just tell you about a traffic jam; they flag which Israeli military checkpoints are currently manned, which roads are off‑limits, and whether a nearby settlement has just launched an attack on passing vehicles.

If you’re in a rush and can’t scroll through dozens of messages, you can always tune into Basma FM. The modest station, broadcasting from Rawabi near Ramallah, now squeezes three traffic bulletins into every hour.

Launched on 2 October 2023 – barely a week before the Hamas‑led assault on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza – Basma FM’s original mission was to entertain young listeners with music and culture news. Fatima Barqawi, the station’s news and traffic director, recalls the sudden pivot: “We thought we’d tell parents which road was clogged for school runs, but five days later the whole region was under war. We had to become a lifeline.”

Barqawi leads a small team of seven reporters who verify each piece of information before it goes on air. "Things change every second," she says. "One minute a checkpoint is sealed, the next an Israeli patrol reopens it. Our job is to chase those flips and get them to you instantly."

The danger is not just about being late. Palestinian drivers, in white‑plated cars that stand out against the yellow‑plated vehicles of Israeli settlers, are often singled out. There have been documented cases of soldiers claiming a "ramming attack" and opening fire on civilian cars, and settlers regularly block or assault Palestinian vehicles on highways.

As settlements expand at a record pace, Israel builds new highways to link them, pushing Palestinian towns onto poorly paved mountain roads or forcing them onto narrow lanes that wind through contested zones. For many, each trip feels like a high‑stakes gamble.

One young woman, who asked to stay anonymous, told Al Jazeera, "I used to blast my music and feel free. Now I drive with my heart racing, constantly checking for soldiers or settler vans. The slightest misstep could mean a rifle aimed at me." She recalled an incident near Hebron where a soldier, convinced she hadn’t stopped at a checkpoint, assaulted her fiancé. A year later, a rifle’s green beam flashed across her windshield – a moment she describes as "the end of the world in a split second."

Reports from the United Nations and Israeli human‑rights group B’Tselem show that the number of barriers across the West Bank has surged dramatically since the Gaza war began. By December 2025, OCHA counted 925 roadblocks – a 43 % jump over the two‑decade average. Villages are now hemmed in by iron gates that open only on a whim, fragmenting daily life and isolating families from work, school and hospitals.

When Basma FM’s Heba Erkat prepares the Wednesday afternoon bulletin, she knows the numbers she’ll read could flip before the segment ends. On a relatively calm day she listed updates for 61 checkpoints, noting that only 12 were closed or backed up. "The situation changes by the minute," she says, a refrain that echoes through every homespun report.

For many Palestinians, Basma FM is more than a radio station – it’s a daily companion that turns chaos into a little bit of order, allowing people to plan, to avoid danger, and to keep a thread of connection to their loved ones in an ever‑shifting landscape.