Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
05.30 Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint
Outside the checkpoint many workers who come from the west-bank are waiting for their transport to East Barta’a and other places in the seam-line zone. A group of seamstresses passes through and they greet us with a smile.
05.55 A continuous stream of people comes out, goes up through the “sleeve” (the wire- netting passageway) from the terminal, and thread their belts back into their trousers while walking, as if it’s quite natural. They tell us that everything is normal and that there isn’t a big queue inside the checkpoint. The two last inspection-stations work fast and therefore their exit is speedy.
People ask us for the telephone numbers of Sylvia and Chaya in connection with their removal from the list of people whose access into Israel is denied, and we give the numbers to them.
A Palestinian approaches us and tells us that during the inspection in the checkpoint his wallet and car keys were stolen. The event happened next to the counter above which there are cameras, the theft was recorded, and the thief is known. Also his identity-card was stolen and he was told at the civil administration office that the Palestinian Authority must request the photographs from the security cameras. He applied to the latter but they are not doing anything so he is stuck “between the hammer and the anvil”.
In a conversation with Ron, the deputy-commander of the checkpoint, it became clear that the Palestinian who was robbed is known to Ron, who has confirmed his story and also said that he had the photographs, but he hasn’t got the authority to release them to the man who lodged the complaint, but only to Lior in the civil administration office (who had already spoken to him), and who might be prepared to hand them over to the Palestinian liaison office.
We didn’t succeed to contact Lior, but Leah took all the details of the man who compained so as to try to help him from her home.
06.45 There are fewer people on the road, but at least 12 lorries are waiting for the checkpoint to be opened for them. The drivers sit outside, smoking and waiting.
06.55 Tura- Shaked checkpoint
A military vehicle passes by on the security road. The checkpoint is closed and there isn’t a living soul in sight. On the opposite side of the checkpoint we can see a group of people who are waiting to cross-over.
07.05 Soldiers are beginning to arrive on foot from the nearby camp. Their commander who marches first doesn’t answer our good-morning greeting, in contrast to the male and female soldiers who come after him and answer with a smile. We see a male and a female soldier who are cleaning up around their position and later we see them throwing the rubbish into a “frog” (a large rubbish container) outside the checkpoint. A military vehicle leaves the checkpoint; they ask who we are, and they know what MachsomWatch is, and go on their way. The summer vacation of the schools has started, there are no teachers or children, who are usually the first ones to pass.
The usual passage of a few cars in both directions is starting, and people most of whom are going out to their work in the seam-line zone, while some of them are waiting for transportation. The flock goes out with its shepherd, a wagon with a donkey and another wagon with a horse, while travelers also pass by.
On the face of it, everything is quiet and calm.
07.25 Suddenly the checkpoint commander comes out of the checkpoint and says to us that the terrorists need us in Hebron so we should go there . . . .he just says that and departs.
07.30 The commander comes out of the checkpoint again and asks which of us has cursed his soldiers ? ! ? ! To my amazed answer, that neither of us cursed the soldiers, he claims that I am lying and that one of the female soldiers has complained about us. I ask to speak to the soldier who complained but of course he doesn’t answer. He threatens to call the police and I ask him to go ahead and do so. I get quite irritated by him and answer angrily. He again walks away and doesn’t return.
We stay for longer than we had planned.
07.40 We leave and return to the Barta’a checkpoint to collect three Palestinians and take them to the Rambam hospital in Haifa.
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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