ברטעה-ריחן, טורה-שקד
photos:
* School children returning home through the sleeve at the checkpoint
* A road block on the road from Kafin to Zibda
* Workers waiting to be checked at the Barta'a Checkpoint
14:00-16:30
14:00 – Jalameh – Gilboa Checkpoint
We drove A. and his son from Rambam Hospital in Haifa to the checkpoint on their way home to Nablus. We held a lengthy conversation about the situation in Syria, about ISIS, and about the stagnant situation between the Palestinians and us, about hopes and trust in a better future, and even about the 
upcoming elections. Our conversation was interesting, but not optimistic. When we parted A. invited us to his home, and we promised to come one day when we can.
The checkpoint was relatively quiet, but there was a long line of Israeli cars entering Israel. The security guards approached us and asked us what we were doing at the checkpoint. We learned that the cars belonged to Israeli Arabs who are allowed to enter the West Bank and return to Israel at this checkpoint.
One of the people crossing complained that it is only possible to enter Israel until 12:00, which is too early.
15:00 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint
We arrived just as the shift was changing. Three soldiers arrived at the checkpoint and a woman soldier attempted to talk to us but one of the others stopped her. There was very little vehicle and pedestrian traffic and everything was carrying on as usual. A tractor left the checkpoint and drove towards the fields. A car driven by a woman (an unusual sight) and another car with a family with a ten-year-old child crossed to the seamline zone. We asked what kind of checks were in process, and were told that everyone was checked but not delayed.
15:30 – Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint
We decided to see what the situation was on the side of the Palestinian parking lot.
The parking lot was crowded with cars, taxis, minibuses, and it was impossible to find a parking space. We drove on for some distance. People said that at about 14:00 Yaabed checkpoint was filled with soldiers and army jeeps, but no one was being checked. While we were looking for a parking place we arrived at the bridge near Zibda, and the gates to it were locked at both ends. There were a lot of cars parked beyond the gates and Palestinian men were crowded around them. People were angry and asked us to see a roadblock that had been put up on the road under the bridge. There was a roadblock made of stones and border police were stopping everyone and questioning them. There were a lot of other police as well. They repeatedly asked us who we were and if we were aware that we were in a dangerous place. We were not asked to leave or stand back. When we asked about the roadblock we were told briefly that there was a need to check people and that this was not unusual.
16:00 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint
There were a lot of people returning from work as usual at this time of day. All were in a hurry and most were men. There was a long line and a crowd next to the turnstile. Only one window was operating. We succeeded in calling the security guard and reported the situation, and he promised to see what was going on. Either by coincidence or deliberately, another two windows opened, and a total of three out of four windows were now operating. Immediately the crowd grew smaller and people began to cross at a reasonable rate. People's feet are still being hit by the lower rungs of the turnstile.
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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