Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan, Wed 11.9.13, Morning
Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham
06:00 – Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint
Vehicles are waiting on the seamline zone side to take workers and workers are waiting for their rides. The Palestinian parking lot is still not full and people are arriving in small groups and going in quickly. Most of them work in the Shahak Industrial Zone or in East Barta'a, both of which are located in the seamline zone. Unfortunately except for a few people, those who work in Israel are not permitted to cross here, which would save them the difficult crossing at Irtah crossing (Ephraim crossing Tibeh). One of the people crossing through to Barta'a is proud of his seven and three year old children who are swimmers. They have a swimming pool in their back yard in Yaabed, but the children have never been to the sea.
Trucks are waiting to be checked.
On the way to Yaabed Checkpoint we see that the bridge is locked from both sides as usual. It is not clear why. Children from the Bedouin village of Emricha are walking to school along the road in Yaabed where it is dangerous. The bridge along the shortcut to Yaabed is locked and cars cannot pass, but pedestrians can cross there.
06:35 – Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint
The checkpoint is open and unmanned. Evidently terrorists do not operate at this hour.
07:00 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint
The pedestrian sleeve is locked and the sleeve on the seamline zone side is open with the gate tide with a piece of cord to a signpost. The soldiers arrive a bit late.
Crossing from the West Bank to the seamline zone begins at 07:10. The teachers arrive and cross in both directions. Very small children arrive on foot and cross to the village of Tura quickly. The older children follow.
At 07:25 are few people are waiting on the West Bank side, but crossing is very slow. Workers who are going to the Shahak Industrial zone in the settlements are supposed to begin work at 07:30 are going to be late for work. The garbage container is overflowing.
A resident of A'anin holds several permits: one to work in Israel, one to work in the settlements, an agricultural permit, and can cross here, but not in his car. He was told at the Liaison and Coordination Administration to arrange his vehicle registration and then received a written answer that he could not receive a permit to bring his car because he is a resident of A'anin in the West Bank and not a resident of the seamline zone.
08:00 – We drove around the Shahak Industrial area. Construction and development are still under way.
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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Ya'bed-Dotan
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Ya’bed-Dotan
This checkpoint is located on road 585, at the crossroads of Mevo Dotan settler-colony / Jenin/ Ya’abad. It has an army watchtower (‘pillbox’ post) and concrete blocs that slow down vehicular traffic. It was erected when Barta’a Checkpoint, lying to the west on the Separation Fence, was privatized and its operation was passed over to civilian security personnel. Since December 2009 this checkpoint enables flow of Palestinian vehicular traffic towards the Barta’a Checkpoint. Seldom is it manned by soldiers sitting in the watchtower, who conduct random inspections of vehicles and passengers. (february 2020)
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