Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Sat 13.7.13, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
We are appalled by the sight of the demolished house at the Wadi Ara/Arara Junction!
07:30 – Shaked Checkpoint
It is Saturday morning during Ramadan. There is talk about the difficulty of fasting, particularly during the first days of the month. There is light traffic. A woman soldier is checking vehicles and a male soldier, pointing a weapon, is standing next to her. A soldier commands Shula to get out of the tobacco field next to the checkpoint, while offering a lecture about respecting the work of the farmer who is cultivating the tobacco. We left at 08:00 and saw a herd of goats approaching the gate at Tura.
08:10 Reihan Checkpoint
There are lots of taxis at the entrance, waiting for passengers. The sleeve leading to and from the terminal is practically empty. Cars are being checked at the entrance and four cars are waiting to be checked.
There are two open windows in the terminal and people are coming out slowly. We are told that it is crowded and that a half hour has passed since they went in. One of the people we were watching came out after half an hour and we did not see the other person come out until we left, 40 minutes after he went in. One of the windows closed at 08:50 and the hallway also appeared to be crowded. A sergeant arrived with two of the guards from the civilian security company and permitted a boy, who was accompanied by another young man, perhaps his brother, to cross. We did not verify how long they had waited for a permit because they left quickly. The second turnstile kept everyone moving and it appeared that people were coming out more quickly than before.
We left at 09:15.
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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