Tora: The house of a villager who murdered a settler from Tal Menashe is demolished
After a long time in lockdown we finally returned to observe the checkpoints in the north of the West Bank. The drive was made more enjoyable because of the view of the many anemones flowering along the road Wadi Ara.
14:50 Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, Seamline Zone Side
New barbed barrier and road signs have been installed at the entrance and exit points to the parking lot. There are now concrete benches underneath the awning where people wait and there are several makeshift prayer rugs on the floor. The covered fenced-in walkway leading to the terminal has also been completed. The area of the checkpoint looks well – tended and the rose bushes are flowering.
We walked down the sleeve to the terminal. The settler’s kiosk was open and we could smell the aroma of freshly baked cakes. The settler told us that he would be opening the kiosk by the weekend for the Palestinians who had requested it. He also explained that because of the lockdown people are only going from the West Bank to the Seamline Zone. Others cross through the holes in the separation barrier. During the afternoons everyone crosses through the checkpoint but not through the terminal. Instead they walk around outside and pass through the turnstile. There are signs in Hebrew posted next to the turnstiles saying that Israelis are not permitted to cross because of COVID-19. On our way back to our car many workers passed us on their way home. We gave Sylvia’s phone number to two of them who had been banned from entering Israel and wished them luck in getting the ban eliminated. One person told us that in the morning it was crowded next to the inspection position, which is not good during COVID.
We drove past the Palestinian side of the checkpoint and saw that the parking lots and sides of the road were filled with cars. It was not clear to us why there were so many if people are only crossing to the seamline zone.
Work is being done on the dirt road connecting the road to the fields and groves between the village of Emricha and Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint. We were not sure whether the roads are for the farmers or for the army. The road connecting Emricha to Yaabed is blocked again.
15:20 Yaabed-Dotan Checkpoint
There was a large bulldozer parked at the side of the checkpoint, evidently there because of the road construction that we had seen. Cars were driving in both directions and were undisturbed except for the concrete blocks along the road.
15:45 A’anin Checkpoint
Five people and a tractor with a plow attached were waiting to cross. The soldiers arrived on time – this time they came from the security road and opened the middle gate. The gate on the seamline zone side has been left open for some time. The middle gate being opened is ironic since there is a large hole in the fence right next to it that is as large as the gate itself.
16:00 Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
Two soldiers stopped us at the junction near Tura Checkpoint and told us that there was military activity near the Palestinian side of the checkpoint and they were only letting people pass who live near the checkpoint. They promised that tomorrow we would be able to drive there as usual. We thought that perhaps the activity was connected to the demolition of the home of the resident of Tura who killed Esther Horgan from Tal Menashe. We later saw the news and learned that this was true.
16:15 – East Barta’a Junction
During the weeks that we were not here the market at the junction has grown and developed. There were many cars parked along the road selling fruits and vegetables as well as toys, children’s chairs and other items. During the morning the place is even more filled with people including workers who cross through holes in the separation barrier.
We drove home through the city of Harish, which is being built by Palestinian laborers. Some of them were sitting on the side of the road waiting for rides.
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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East Barta'a Junction
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East Barta'a Junction
The main station at the eastern Barta'a junction (Roads 611/6115).
A junction without special activities became about April 2020 a bustling center of transportation to workplaces in Israel, following the free passage through loopholes in the nearby separation fence.
Palestinian workers from all over the West Bank gather here every morning, without transit permits and often without masks. The army is turning a blind eye and the occupation is losing control.
There is also no shortage of coffee and pastry stalls.
Hagar DrorSep-26-2023Barta'a: rapid construction of the separation fence
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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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