Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan
Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side, Area C
The line was being formed around the new entrance area which was not yet in use, so the parking lot appeared at first to be empty of people. A family with a small child and several women went directly to the turnstile without waiting in line. I was told that it was taking people approximately 40 minutes to cross including the time inside the terminal. At a quarter to six after a few minutes’ wait the turnstile on the Palestinian side opened for four workers returning from the night shift. After that about 110 people crossed to the seamline zone. People were received by the coordinator of activities in the [occupied] territories with wishes of “Ramadan Kariim” and “Have fun” – wishes for a happy holiday month to them and their families. There was a two minute break and then another group of people entered.
At 05:50 the turnstile closed when a military jeep drove along the security road westward.
06:15 – Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint
Cars were crossing without being delayed. The tobacco fields were flowering with pink flowers and the okra flowers were still closed. Rows of sunflowers bordered plots of okra.
06:40 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
The inner gates opened as we arrived. Two cars drove towards the West Bank. At 06:45 12 people went into the inspection facility through the turnstile and a soldier went up to the observation point. At 06:44 the gate was raised and the two cars passed through without any more delay. We were told that today the checkpoint opened early and that things were going well because no one was checked in the inspection room. At 06:50 a driver was held up because his papers were checked and something was missing. He left his car at the checkpoint, went back to the nearby village, and came back shortly with the missing papers. Another couple of cars went through and by 07:15 the checkpoint was quiet.
Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint, Seamline Zone Side 07:30
The popular kiosk with coffee and fragrant cakes was operating even now during Ramadan, and a group of young men were smoking and eating behind a blue plastic barrier. There were two positions operating at the exit going towards the seamline zone. I have not been here in the morning for a long time and noticed cameras positioned above each position for the first time. People explained: “Instead of the biometer palm check, we get photographed.” People added that “everything is OK.” At 08:15 two light trucks loaded with merchandise and vegetables and two medium-sized trucks left the vehicle inspection facility in a convoy headed for the seamline zone. Five minutes later six vehicles loaded with merchandise drove up to be checked. A private car that entered at 08:21 drove out at 08:25. Meanwhile three more cars arrived. It appears that Reihan-Barta’a Checkpoint is running professionally. If only it were located on a legitimate border point and there were Palestinian clerks on the other side!
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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