Tura checkpoint: It is easier to shop in Jenin
14:50 – 16:00
At the breaches in the separation fence opposite Road 611, we observed the normal activity of workers returning to the West Bank from their work in Israel.
Tura Checkpoint
At this checkpoint in the Seamline Zone, we run into women loaded with packages, who are returning from shopping in Jenin. They tell us that because of the wild boars, it is difficult to grow vegetables themselves in the gardens next to their houses. Access to Jenin is more convenient and things are cheaper than in East Barta’a, which is in the Seamline Zone. One of those crossing tells us about a Palestinian resident of the Seamline Zone, who was told he could not bring a household refrigerator from Jenin via Tura Checkpoint, which is close to his home. They told him he had to cross via Barta’a Checkpoint and then only after he arranged this with the Liaison and Coordination Administration (this time without paying a fee).
Palestinian cars pass the checkpoint in two directions, but there are also cars that cross from the Seamline Zone to the West Bank via the road that bypasses the checkpoint.
The Assistant Head of the Council of Daher al Malec, who is returning with his son from the West Bank, tells of the contemptuous attitude of the soldiers at the checkpoint. They play in the computer, eat, phone, and make those who are crossing in cars, wait a long time (the wait is miraculously shorter only when we visit the checkpoint). If one of those waiting dares to honk, that person doesn’t cross or is punished by waiting a longer time. Also, there are no bathrooms at the checkpoint, which makes the longer wait even more difficult. The man asks us what he can do; is it worthwhile to turn to a lawyer? The only thing we were able to suggest to him was perhaps the head of the council could turn personally to the Liaison and Coordination Administration.
Barta’a Checkpoint
Buses and large transits bring groups of workers returning from Israel to the parking lot of the checkpoint. During the afternoon hours, passage via the terminal is only one way; that is, the checkpoint is only open in the direction of the West Bank. Therefore, groups of women and children with packages and suitcases who return from Jenin, walk up on the open road via the vehicle checkpoint.
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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