Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
05:40 – Barta’a Checkpoint, Palestinian Side
The parking lot was not full yet. Many people were arriving and entering the terminal immediately, and there was no line. A small group of workers was not permitted to cross despite the fact that they have valid permits and work in construction in new city of Harish. Their contractor did not coordinated the entry at this checkpoint which is not designated officialy as an entry point into Israel. Instead they have to travel south all the way to Irtah Checkpoint (Ephraim). The other construction workers who work in Harish cross here. A young man has not been permitted to cross for the past four days despite the fact that he has a valid permit for the seamline zone and for entering Israel. We gave him Sylvia’s phone number.
At 06:00 the turnstile closed for a few minutes and a line immediately formed. It disappeared again when the turnstile began operating again. One of the drivers showed us his criminal ban preventing him from entering Israel. He was caught in Um Al Fahem in 2015 for illegally entering Israel and driving without a license or insurance. He paid a fine and his ban extends until April 15th, 2018. We hoped things would work out for him. Another young man told us that he was not permitted to cross for the last five days despite the fact that he has a valid permit. One of the Palestinian attendants tried to help translate the conversation.
06:20 – Barta’a Checkpoint, Seamline Zone Side
We walked down the sleeve as a steady line of people walked up. Many stopped to buy coffee and cake at the kiosk belonging to the settler from Hermesh. It seemed we were the only ones who were not pleased at this.
There were six inspection windows operating and people were crossing quickly.
06:50 – Tura Shaked Checkpoint
To our surprise the soldiers were already in their places and the gates were open. People and three vehicles were waiting to cross. At 07:00 two women were the first to cross. People are pleased and smiling today. The schools are still on winter vacation, so there were no school children.
We left at 07:20. The garbage container was emptied as usual, but the bench under the awning is still broken. It has legs but no seat, and people cannot sit there. (See Photo)
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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