Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan
Tura Shaked Checkpoint, 15:10
It is very hot. The air is perfectly still. Nevertheless, we were met with two surprises from two different places.
The first was a military vehicle which pulled up next to us with an officer from the Liaison and Coordination Administration, and two young women who served with him. They had evidently just completed their officers' course for working at the checkpoints. The friendly officer evidently wanted them to get acquainted with us, as a part of the checkpoints' scene. They reported that they had met a woman from MachsomWatch who had impressed them (probably Hanna Burg). We added our own comments about the hardships the Palestinians endure regarding obtaining and renewing permits, not being permitted to enter Israel, for unknown reasons, the hardship of making a living in general, and the difficulties due to the renewal of permits in particular. We also told them a bit about our organization, about the help with the bureaucracy in reversing refusals to enter Israel, etc. We talked about the Palestinian village of Dahar Al Malak near the checkpoint, which still has not been connected to electricity, and where people are not permitted to build homes, about the lack of any progress regarding these issues, and the way soldiers, as well as strict women officers, relate to Palestinians – who are people just like us.
The second surprise was the head of the village of Tura, coming from the West Bank to the seamline zone on a tractor tailing a water tank. He explained that people were beginning to plant tobacco and he was bringing water to the fields. He complained that during the past month nine young men had been arrested at the checkpoint. The soldiers arrest them at the checkpoint when they are on their way to work, rather than enter their homes in the village. Other young people have permits to go out to work and plant tobacco, but are afraid to go lest they be arrested at the checkpoint.
15:55 – Yaabed Dotan Checkpoint
It is extremely hot, and soldiers dressed in flak jackets ask us if we need water. We tell them that we have water with us, and we suffer from the heat less than the soldiers because we are wearing light summer clothing.
A large water tank is blocking the road, evidently transferring water to the tank inside the building. Traffic is being diverted to the dirt road. Cars are not being checked. Whoever is going to Barta'a will be checked at the next checkpoint anyway. Why is it necessary to have this checkpoint at all?
16:30 – Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint
All the parking lots on the Palestinian side are completely full. There are many people walking down the fenced-in sleeve who are coming home from work. We noticed the bars on the turnstile and people continue to complain that their feet are hit by the revolving turnstile. The two biometers that we can see are both operating and we don't see any delays.
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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