Reihan, Shaked, Sun 11.3.12, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
15:00 Shaked/Tura checkpoint
A truck carrying an injured horse stands at the checkpoint. The veterinarian does everything he can to convince the soldiers to allow him to bring it through for an operation in Jenin. The soldiers say that the horse goes back and forth daily with various excuses. At a certain point the soldier agrees, says he’ll let the horse through but he won’t let it come back. He finally consents; the veterinarian will be permitted to bring the horse back, on condition he provides an official document from the Jenin veterinary hospital.
Light, but constant, vehicle traffic in both directions.
Two soldiers and a female MP express interest in what we’re doing. They’ve heard that we badmouth the soldiers. We suggest they read the reports on our website. We’re continually amazed by how little awareness they have of the anomalous nature of life under occupation. As far as they’re concerned, there’s no occupation, and we must keep pointing out to them the location of the fence, compared with the route of the international border. The MP proposes that the inhabitants of Dahr al-Malk should simply move to their homes in Tura, thereby saving themselves the checkpoint’s inconvenience… No, they really don’t need their homes and land in the seam zone. We always end these conversations by saying that we’re not against them, as soldiers; we’re against the occupation. They’re always amazed when we call ourselves patriots.
16:20 Reihan/Barta’a checkpoint
We’re not allowed to cross to the lower parking lot; we’re detained until the operations officer arrives. It takes ten minutes for Ma’or to show up and explain the reason for the delay. Again “the incident” is referred to, in which he claims one of our colleagues taped the security personnel, and he politely asks us to adhere to the “rules.” We promise, and are allowed through. The parking lot on the Palestinian side is so crowded that it’s impossible to enter. Eight loaded trucks stand on the roadside across the way, waiting to be inspected tomorrow morning. We turn around and want to return to the upper parking lot, and are detained again until an armed guard comes to peek into the trunk of our car.
16:45 We walk down the fenced corridor to the terminal. The revolving gate is open; laborers returning from work go through quickly. Two booths are open. Most people are returning to the West Bank, a few to the seam zone.
17:00 We leave.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
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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).
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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)
Mar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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