ברטעה-ריחן, טורה-שקד
6:05 Barta’a Riehan Checkpoint
Upon our arrival, there’s a double line stretching from the entrance to the parking lot all the way to the electronic gate leading into the checkpoint terminal. We timed one individual’s transit time from the moment he joined the line until he reached the carousel through which you enter the terminal: 14 minutes. People waiting there estimated that it took half an hour. They enter the terminal through the carousel in groups of 100 people or more, and the pauses between groups are just a few minutes long.
Those who have permission to exit to build the Harish settlement are very pleased; they can make a living. And now, under the supervision of a Palestinian security company, the crossing has become more bearable. Laborers we chat with promise Leah to be careful on the job, given the recent spike in construction-site accidents.
The truck drivers waiting for their checking station to open at 8am complain that it’s too late for them to be starting their work day.
By 6:45 the line in the parking lot is about half as long as when we arrived.
6:50 Tura Shaked Checkpoint
We are told that the checkpoint opened at 6:40. Few pass through now, including a few women that work in Shaked and Barta’a. We give a ride to two construction workers headed for work in the Hinannit settlement. This is one of the three settlements thanks to which the barrier fence loops around and around in order to keep the settlers on the “right side”. At the entrance to the settlement, the men are checked, seemingly by the local security officer
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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