‘Anin, Barta’a-Reihan, Tayba-Rummana, Tura-Shaked
Barta’a Checkpoint, 06:15
In the Palestinian parking lot, there is a line of people waiting to enter the terminal. The line moves relatively to how many booths are open inside. If the line moves slowly than only two booths, out of the six or eight, are open. Recently, the checkpoint managers did not bother to open more inspection booths, the line became longer and longer and the crowd of people became unruly and angry.
Today things are different. We have to look twice and remind ourselves that this relaxed and comforting reality is the routine of occupation. We marvel at the sight of the Palestinian security guards wearing their black uniforms and armed with clubs and tear gas canisters to maintain order. We marvel at how long it took the Palestinian authorities to find a way to profit from the occupation and to pocket money that belongs to their brethren. It is depressing to see how the Palestinians at the checkpoint meekly surrender and accept the security guards and the fee they must pay them in order to get to work on time.
A’anin Checkpoint 06:30
The soldiers arrived on time. It is always surprising when they do so because it is not always the case. Residents of A’anin now receive permits to cross at other checkpoints that are open every day. We would not be surprised if this checkpoint that opens only twice each week closes. It is hard to believe that the occupiers will be generous and let people choose which checkpoint they prefer to cross: from here, from Barta’a, or from Tura.
Tura Checkpoint, 07:10
Heaven only knows why the checkpoint opens at 07:30 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and at 06:00 the rest of the week. At any rate the soldiers are seldom punctual and don’t bother to arrive on time. “Do you think this is Switzerland?” is a common response. Walid, a resident of Tura, speaks to a cameraman and explains how he deals with the occupation in the morning by simply deciding not to get angry. He points to his heart and says that he doesn’t want to get aggravated and be under pressure. It’s not a good way to start the day.
07:50 Tibeh Romana Checkpoint
The soldiers arrived on time but did not open the checkpoint until 25 minutes later. One of the soldiers dozed in the jeep while the other was a bit more energetic. When more soldiers arrived, the checkpoint opened and everyone crossed within five minutes, except for one person who was sent back for reasons we did not know. The people who crossed pointed out that they preferred the soldiers to the policemen from the border patrol. According to them, they are “not good,” to say the least.
'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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Tayba-Rummana
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Tayba-Rummana is an agricultural checkpoint. It is located in the separation fence in front of the eastern slopes of the Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. The Palestinian villages next to the checkpoint are Khirbet Tayba and Rummana. Dozens of dunams of olive groves were removed from their owners, the residents of these villages on the western side of the separation fence. The Palestinian villages next to the checkpoint are Khirbet Tayba and Rumna. Dozens of olives dunams were removed from these villages' residents and swallowed up in a narrow strip of space, on the western side of the separation fence. The checkpoint allows the plantation owners who have permits to pass. Twice a week, the checkpoint opens for fifteen minutes in the morning and evening. During the harvest season, it opens every day for fifteen minutes in the morning (around 0630) and fifteen minutes in the afternoon (around 1530). (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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