‘Anin, Barta’a-Reihan, Tayba-Rummana, Tura-Shaked
06.00 Barta’a-Reichan Checkpoint
Many workers were waiting for transportation to their work at the exit from the terminal, towards the upper parking area. Also, there was a large number of vehicles parked or circulating there. At the entrance to the checkpoint, through the lower parking area, there was a long queue, which was held up opposite the electric gate, which was locked (see the photograph). Many people arrive at this hour,from all parts of the Jordan Valley, on their way to the work in Israel and the Seam-Line zone.
After ten minutes the gate opened and people simply gushed inside, instead of in groups of five, which is often the case. Before the queue dissolved, the gate to the terminal was again locked and the queue again lengthened. Many people greeted us cheerfully. One of them approached to ask us to take action to allow people aged 55 and above to cross from here to Israel in the morning,instead of having to cross via the Irtach and Jalame checkpoints (in the afternoon everyone can return through here).
06.30 The Anin agricultural checkpoint
The checkpoint gates were already open, and the soldiers were standing near the middle gate (there are three gates at the checkpoint), but they were busy and still haven’t allowed people to go through. A number of Palestinians already stood next to the soldiers, waiting, and waiting . . . In the eyes of the Occupier the Palestinians’ lost time has no significance. After about a quarter of an hour the soldiers started to let people through the gate. Three tractors and about twenty people, many of whom we have known for quite a number of years, passed through. However, many of those whom we know don’t come to the checkpoint, because their permits are not being renewed, even though there is actually a lot of work to be done in the olive groves: to plough, to weed and to plant new olive trees. A female donkey and her fowlarrive from the nearby grove and stands next to us, braying loudly.
07.05 The Tura-Shaked checkpoint
When we arrived, the checkpoint was already in operation, and a trickle of people passed through the checkpoint from the Jordan Valley into the Seam-Line zone. At this early hour children and their teachers haven’t yet arrived. Olive seedlings in blue plastic barrels stood at the side. Here too the small number of people passing through was noticeable. A stranger might be led to think that the quiet was due to the efficiency of the checkpoint. But the truth is that if the checkpoint hadn’t been here, tens and maybe hundreds of people, who are imprisoned beyond the separation fence, would be coming and going between the nearby Palestinian villages. It’s not efficiency. It’s the occupation in all its glory, which derives the Palestinians of their freedom of movement in their own land.
08.00 The Tayba-Rummana agricultural gate
This barrier is located in the lower outskirts of Um El Fahem and to approach it one must drive up the steep hill to the Askandar peak (from it one can see Afula and the Valley of Yizrael, Haifa university, Hadera, and the Caesaria beach), and descend on unnamed roads, which are outside WAZE’s coverage, to the eastern side of the town. Border policemen operate the checkpoint and on the previous occasions that we were there they were late in opening it. Also today they were 20 minutes late and the crossing itself started only after another 10 minutes. Passage through the checkpoint was fast, the policemen were purposeful and behaved correctly, and none of the Palestinians was refused passage. It seems to us that more people have been crossing here lately. Today we were told (by the the Tayba village head) “When you are here everything goes smoothly”.
At least we have started to gain some trust .
'Anin checkpoint (214)
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'Anin checkpoint (214)
'Anin checkpoint is located on the Separation Fence east of the Israeli community Mei Ami and close to the village of Anin in the West Bank. It is opened twice a week, morning and afternoon, on days with shorter light time, for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence it became difficult to cultivate their land. Transit permits are only issued to those who can produce ownership documents for their caged-in land, and sometimes only to the head of the family or his widow, eldest son, and children. Sometimes the inheritors lose their right to tend to the family’s land. The permits are eked out and are re-issued only with difficulty. 55-year-old persons may cross the checkpoint (into Israel) without special permits. During the olive harvest season (about one month around October) the checkpoint is open daily and more transit permits are issued. Names of persons eligible to cross are held in the soldiers’ computers. In July 2007, a sweeping instruction was issued, stating that whoever does not return to the village through this checkpoint in the afternoon will be stripped of his transit permit when he shows up there next time. Since 2019, the checkpoint has not been allways locked with the seam-line zone gate (1 of 3 gates), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.
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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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Tayba-Rummana
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Tayba-Rummana is an agricultural checkpoint. It is located in the separation fence in front of the eastern slopes of the Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. The Palestinian villages next to the checkpoint are Khirbet Tayba and Rummana. Dozens of dunams of olive groves were removed from their owners, the residents of these villages on the western side of the separation fence. The Palestinian villages next to the checkpoint are Khirbet Tayba and Rumna. Dozens of olives dunams were removed from these villages' residents and swallowed up in a narrow strip of space, on the western side of the separation fence. The checkpoint allows the plantation owners who have permits to pass. Twice a week, the checkpoint opens for fifteen minutes in the morning and evening. During the harvest season, it opens every day for fifteen minutes in the morning (around 0630) and fifteen minutes in the afternoon (around 1530). (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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