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‘Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Mon 25.5.09, Afternoon

Observers: Lea R. and Anna N. S.
May-25-2009
| Afternoon
Translation: Devorah K.
 
15:20 – 15:45 A'anin
The CP opened at 15:00. About 20 people including tractors returned home. Everyone who goes through presents a permit that is examined against the list that was made in the morning — then the name is deleted.
 
An old man and his donkey are allowed to return home only after a long and tiring discussion. This took place towards the end of the shift which became even longer because of the discussion. The soldiers claim that the man went through with a young boy this morning. Now they want to know why the boy did not return with him. The old man, who speaks with difficulty, drags the donkey behind him. He explains by hand movements and a weak voice that the boy did not go out with him. He does not even know the fellow. The soldiers finally give in and let him go through.
 
Our acquaintance, P., suddenly appears on the other side of the CP and tries to solve problems and help those going through who are asked for explanations for every bit of cloth they have in their bags. A young journalist, in a  shirt on which is written 'The occupation is a crime', arrives with him. The shirt draws arrows from the soldiers. We asked him to bring us two of those shirts and promised to appear in them in our CP shifts. The journalist, M. B., writes for a German newspaper that is published in Arabic in the terrirories. He is a resident of one of the villages near Ramallah. He runs around here and there (I wish we had someone like him) and documents what he sees at the CP.
 
16:00 Shaked CP
Many people, whole families are returning from a funeral that took place in one of the villages in Wadi Ara. The visit lasted for two days. The passage and the inspection are routine.
The bags of clothes that we brought, got through to the West Bank without any difficulty, after they were inspected.
 
16:30 – 17:00 Reihan CP
It is now a quiet time. People are coming back from work, 'tired but happy' as we say. The passage is relatively quick. They claim that for the last several days, the passage in Irtach (Efraim Gate) has been easier in the mornings. And another cause for joy: The Bedoui village, A-Mricha, on the West Bank, has at long last been connected to electricity. Peopls tell us that recently the army expropriated about 500 dunams of agricultural land from residents of Ya'abed, in the area near Tura. The expropriated plots were divided into numbered units and the army instructed the owners of the plots to uproot the olive trees on them within the next two months. If they do not do that, the army will uproot the trees in their stead and the family will be fined. Because of the language difficulties on both sides, it is possible that something is wrong with the oral comprehension. We gave one of the drivers the telephone number of the journalist that we met in A'anin, who promised to get to the area tomorrow (Wednesday, 27/05/09). If the rumors on the expropriation and on the uprooting of the olive trees are true, we will pass the information on to additional people.

As always we encountered appeals from people who complain about not receiving agricultural permits, about personal hardships, tensions, and anger at the wearing occupation. With these stories of hardship, we leave the CP which is cared for and clean and flowering in every corner. An Israeli flag waves proudly in the central square and, from afar, lets everyone know who is in charge here.
  • 'Anin checkpoint (214)

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    • 'Anin checkpoint (214)
      'Anin checkpoint is located on the Separation Fence east of the Israeli community Mei Ami and close to the village of Anin in the West Bank. It is opened twice a week, morning and afternoon, on days with shorter light time, for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence it became difficult to cultivate their land. Transit permits are only issued to those who can produce ownership documents for their caged-in land, and sometimes only to the head of the family or his widow, eldest son, and children. Sometimes the inheritors lose their right to tend to the family’s land. The permits are eked out and are re-issued only with difficulty. 55-year-old persons may cross the checkpoint (into Israel) without special permits. During the olive harvest season (about one month around October) the checkpoint is open daily and more transit permits are issued. Names of persons eligible to cross are held in the soldiers’ computers. In July 2007, a sweeping instruction was issued, stating that whoever does not return to the village through this checkpoint in the afternoon will be stripped of his transit permit when he shows up there next time. Since 2019, the checkpoint has not been allways locked with the seam-line zone gate (1 of 3 gates), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.

  • Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint

    See all reports for this place
    • This checkpoint is located on the Separation Fence route, east of the Palestinian town of East Barta’a. The latter is the largest Palestinian community inside the seam-line zone (Barta’a Enclave) in the northern West Bank. Western Barta’a, inside Israel, is adjacent to it. The Checkpoint is open all week from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Since mid-May 2007, the checkpoint has been managed by a civilian security company subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. People permitted to cross through this checkpoint into and from the West Bank are residents of Palestinian communities inside the Barta’a Enclave as well as West Bank Palestinian residents holding transit permit. Jewish settlers from Hermesh and Mevo Dotan cross here without inspection. A large, modern terminal is active here with 8 windows for document inspection and biometric tests (eyes and fingerprints).  Usually only one or two  of the 8 windows are in operation. Goods,  up to medium commercial size, may pass here from the West Bank into the Barta’a Enclave.  A permanent registered group of drives who have been approved by the may pass with farm produce. When the administration of the checkpoint was turned over to a civilian security firm, the Ya’abad-Mevo Dotan Junction became a permanent checkpoint. . It is manned by soldiers who sit in the watchtower and come down at random to inspect vehicles and passengers (February 2020).

  • Tura-Shaked

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    • Tura-Shaked

      This is a fabric of life* checkpoint through which pedestrians, cabs and private cars (since 2008) pass to and from the West Bank and the Seam-line Zone to and from the industrical zone near the settler-colony Shaked, schools and kindergartens, and Jenin university campuses. The checkpoint is located between Tura village inside the West Bank and the village of Dahar Al Malah inside the enclave of the Seam-line Zone.  It is opened twice a day, between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., and from 12 noon to 7 p.m. People crossing it (at times even kindergarten children) are inspected in a bungalow with a magnometer. Names of those allowed to cross it appear in a list held by the soldiers. Usually traffic here is scant.

      • fabric of life roads and checkpoints, as defined by the Terminals Authority in the Ministry of Defense (fabric of life is a laundered name that does not actually describe any kind of humanitarian purpose) are intended for Palestinians only. These roads and checkpoints have been built on lands appropriated from their Palestinian owners, including tunnels, bypass roads, and tracks passing under bridges. Thus traffic can flow between the West Bank and its separated parts that are not in any kind of territorial contiguity with it. Mostly there are no permanent checkpoint on these roads but rather ‘flying’ checkpoints, check-posts or surprise barriers. At Toura, a small (less than one dunam) and sleepy checkpoint has been established, which has filled up with the years with nearly .every means of supervision and surveillance that the Israeli military occupation has produced. (February 2020)
      מחסום עאנין:  פרצה מפוארת במרכז המחסום
      Mar-21-2022
      Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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