Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan
Tura – Shaked Checkpoint: Why is it not permitted to bring a piece of synthetic grass into the West Bank?
15:30 – Barta’a Checkpoint
We arrived at the checkpoint early and only a few people had crossed to the West Bank through the sleeve. We continued on to the Yaabed-Dotan checkpoint and dropped off bags of used clothing at the village of Emricha on the way. We passed a lot of military vehicles on the road but there were no soldiers in the pillbox at the checkpoint itself. Tobacco plants were in flower on both sides of the road.
We returned to Barta’a – Reihan checkpoint. The parking lot and the sides of the road were still full of cars and we had nowhere to park, so we were unable to see how the construction at the checkpoint was progressing. Instead we decided to keep track of a woman who was crossing to the seamline zone, to see how long it would take her to cross.
16:00 – There were now many workers crossing from the seamline zone. Someone approached us who had been banned from entering Israel. We gave him telephone numbers to ask for help. The woman whom we were following came out of the checkpoint after 25 minutes.
16:30 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
The road is being widened all along the way from Katzir to the checkpoint and there were large rocks along the sides of the road to the Tura checkpoint. A busload of soldiers were receiving instructions near the fence. The driver explained to us that this group was evidently was replacing those who were leaving. Several people approached us about items they were not permitted to carry into the West Bank: a man with two small windows that he had repaired was not allowed to bring them in because he had no permit. A young man was not allowed to cross with a sheet of synthetic grass. We attempted to clarify this with the Liaison and Coordination Administration but were unsuccessful. An elderly woman had to empty the sacks of flour she was attempting to bring across on the back of a donkey. She was only permitted to cross after leaving the flour with relatives. Someone also asked us about being banned from entering Israel and we gave him phone numbers to ask for help. A woman from a small village consisting of eight houses, called Hirbet Ra’adiyyeh, asked us to help to get the village connected to electricity, after Dahar Al Malec was finally connected. They have been seeking the help of an attorney for several years.
We left at 17:30.
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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