‘Anin, Barta’a-Reihan
06:00 –Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
The parking lot was full of people and cars but they told us that this day fewer people came because “they were afraid to come”. Likewise, it is clear that the settlements arenn’t allowing Palestinian workers to enter and it is the same in the kibbutzim and moshavim. Among those who passed through the checkpoint, there were some whose employers did not provide transportation so they just sat in the parking lot until it was time to return home.
06:10 –Inspection of private cars crossing to the Seam Zone is particularly strict. Trucks carrying merchandise haven’t as yet reached the area of inspection.
Four inspection windows are working in the terminal and the people report that the inspection is quick, but outside there is still a long line. The workers greet us as they go up the sleeve while taking off their belts. The kiosk is open and functioning as usual.
A man who works in a sewing shop in Barta’a, told us that a month ago he broke a rib because of the crowding in the entrance to the checkpoint; because of his condition he entered the checkpoint through the women’s line (where there is no pushing). As a punishment for that he was delayed by one hour and a half. . .
Many young workers rush to their rides. Opposite, the workers walk in the other direction and return home after their night shifts.
Anin Checkpoint
We arrive early. The checkpoint is locked. Olive trees that are close to the road are already harvested. At 06:55, the white DCO car arrives on the security road. After 07:00, a jeep arrives with an officer and a driver. He greets us but he doesn’t enter the area of the checkpoint because . . . he didn’t have a key to the gate. Neither did the representative of DCO . . . or. . . wait . . . they telephone. . .
07:15 – A car arrives and out comes a soldier, very slowly, with a key. Loud voices are heard from the direction of the checkpoint. In the meantime, female students arrived from the Bedouin clans that live at the foot of the checkpoint and wait for a ride to school.
A red tractor crosses first and after that adult women begin to leave. All of them complained that their sons did not recieve harvest permits; they cannot harvest their whole area alone. Some of them carry a long stick, to shake the tree; others bring buckets. Some say only them and their husbands got permits.
07:35 – About 50 young people and adults crossed.
07:50 – A group of 10 young people passed the checkpoint and then waited for an older man to join them.
Two more tractors passed through, carrying women and young people.
We did not count those who passed through the checkpoint but our estimate is about 100 residents of Anin.
08:00 –Everyone had passed through and the soldiers closed the gate of the checkpoint. Along the way we saw groups of harvesters among the trees.
'Anin checkpoint (214)
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'Anin checkpoint (214)
'Anin checkpoint is located on the Separation Fence east of the Israeli community Mei Ami and close to the village of Anin in the West Bank. It is opened twice a week, morning and afternoon, on days with shorter light time, for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence it became difficult to cultivate their land. Transit permits are only issued to those who can produce ownership documents for their caged-in land, and sometimes only to the head of the family or his widow, eldest son, and children. Sometimes the inheritors lose their right to tend to the family’s land. The permits are eked out and are re-issued only with difficulty. 55-year-old persons may cross the checkpoint (into Israel) without special permits. During the olive harvest season (about one month around October) the checkpoint is open daily and more transit permits are issued. Names of persons eligible to cross are held in the soldiers’ computers. In July 2007, a sweeping instruction was issued, stating that whoever does not return to the village through this checkpoint in the afternoon will be stripped of his transit permit when he shows up there next time. Since 2019, the checkpoint has not been allways locked with the seam-line zone gate (1 of 3 gates), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.
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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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