Barta'a checkpoint: Six thousand pass through in the morning
At the Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, at 5:50, the shed/corral leading to the turnstiles and from there to the ‘terminal’ was empty. Within 10-15 minutes, it was filled to bursting with people. At the same time, passage from it to the terminal stopped. After about 15 minutes the passage was opened, people rushed through the turnstiles towards the terminal and the shed was emptied again (and the terminal filled). It seemed to be an initiated stop – filling and emptying…
Passage from the lower Palestinian car park to the upper car park in the seam zone took about 20 minutes. In a talk with one of the heads of the checkpoint last week he reminded me that at the International Ben Gurion airport you must wait longer… The inevitable comparison and justification. As if one’s way to work every day is comparable to a trip abroad once in a blue moon… Anyway, there was no chaos this morning, and no complaints were heard.
Everyone misses the breaches in the Separation Fence.
A youngster from Tul Karm lost his magnetic card along with his ID. At the checkpoint he was notified (before being sent back) that he had an appointment to renew his documents in 20 days. Until then – no going to work. Another youngster received a note from Neta with Sylvia’s number, about his GSS blacklisting.
At Ya’abad-Dotan Checkpoint, at 6:45 no soldiers were seen, and the meager traffic was managed unhampered.
At Anin Checkpoint (opened to farmers twice a week), at 6:55 about 50 people were waiting with 2 tractors for the checkpoint to open. During the ‘breach period’, no one waited for the soldiers except for a tractor driver or two. At 2 minutes to 7, soldiers began to have the crowd pass. Not everyone. Several young men were refused, claiming they had not paid their traffic fines.
The large breach at the checkpoint has been closed with barbed wire, and a 24-hour guard by Nahal soldiers. During the rest of the week (on days when the checkpoint is inactive) presumably they lie there idle.
Registration is now open for gambling when the breaches in the fence will be back. It was good and effective on both sides of the fence, too bad it looked bad on photos.
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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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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