Northern Checkpoints,Tura: The occupation looks like a garbage dumpster
15:30 – We traveled straight to Harmesh Checkpoint. On the way, we saw many cars at Barta’a Checkpoint. Harmesh Checkpoint wasn’t manned and the traffic flowed in two directions without interruption. We decided to visit the settlement of Harmesh. The guard at the gate agreed that we could tour the place that appeared to be very neglected. Only 50 families live there and surprisingly, there is a large swimming pool. (The maintenance of the pool is NIS 300,000 a year.) Half of the residents are immigrants from the Soviet Union who live there for comfort or convenience, not for ideological reasons. In 2002, three residents were killed at the hands of a Palestinian armed with a Kalashnikov and in 2005, another resident was shot to death north of the settlement.
16:00 – Settlement of Mevo-Dotan
We also decided to visit this settlement, where 120 families live on the lands of Ya’bed. This settlement is a bit more well-groomed than Harmesh and they also have a swimming pool. A car that passed us stopped, and the female driver, who identified us from the checkpoint, turned to us and said, “You’ve been swarming around down there at the checkpoint until you arrived here?” On the way out, next to the “Warm Home for Soldiers”, the gate opened and we left. Palestinian cars are parked outside the gate. Palestinians are allowed to work in the settlement, but they cannot bring in their cars? No and no.
16:15 – Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint
At the checkpoint, all the drivers welcome us with peace. There is a lot of vehicle disruption when a double-sized truck is stuck in the zig-zag between the concrete blocks. Where are the soldiers when you need them? After five minutes the Section Commander (from the company “Raven Paratroopers”), commented on parking our car and politely requested to move it.
16:35 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
There was great crowding at Barta’a Checkpoint. Three young brothers sell us coffee. Every day they “work” at the checkpoint from 14:00 until 18:00. Someone asked us why there were so many cars if there are no jobs? He told us that in the past, 30 taxis were there to transport laborers, but with the decrease in work, people simply come to the checkpoint in the hope that someone will give them a job. Two people asked for help with work permits.
17:20 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
We were amazed at the amount of garbage the soldiers produce. The garbage dumpster moves around from place to place in and out the checkpoint, but the rate of emptying it hasn’t changed. The dumpster is bursting and the garbage is scattered everywhere. We walked in the direction of the checkpoint to speak with the commander of the place about the piles of refuse. The army police officer who was present promised us that he would deal with the problem. Simultaneously, a couple in a car that came from the direction of the Seamline Zone, stopped beside us and complained that in the past months, the waiting time at the checkpoint can get to be half an hour. The soldiers don’t behave nicely to the citizens, they don’t arrive on time to open the checkpoint in the morning, and in the evening, they close before the appointed time. One of the times, the man knocked on the door of the inspection room in order to complain about the delay, and he was sent back to the Seamline Zone with no possibility to pass through the checkpoint.
17:40 – Waze sent us home via Umm al Fatah.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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).
-
Hermesh
See all reports for this place-
Hermesh
-
Tura-Shaked
See all reports for this place-
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
-