‘Anin, Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
06:10 Etzion Agricultural Checkpoint
The gate is opened only twice a week for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, for farmers from the village whose land is beyond the fence in the seam-line zone, and also for those who have a permit to work in the seam-line zone.
Before we arrived at the checkpoint we met a farmer on a tractor who had already succeeded in passing through the checkpoint. He reported to us that the soldiers have opened the gate on time but they asked the workers many questions and this held up their passage.
Another Palestinian passed through the checkpoint and told us that there were perhaps five more waiting. Then there was a pause of about ten minutes, and we couldn’t see or hear what was happening in the inspection area, because of the morning fog and also because of the distance.
06:20 We vaguely saw two Palestinians inside the checkpoint, and heard the military police sergeant threatening one of them that if he tried to bring through a can of olive-oil she would confiscate his permit and he wouldn’t be allowed to pass again. Two more Palestinians arrived, one of them carrying a can of olive-oil, and they greeted us with a “shalom”. Right after them the soldiers arrived and closed the three gates of the checkpoint, a minute before 06:30, and we didn’t know whether everyone who wanted to pass succeeded.
06:30 The Palestinian with the can of oil waited at the side of the road and the soldiers’ jeep was next to him. The second soldier also waited in the corner. Were the soldiers deliberating whether to stay and see who would pick up the Palestinians, or follow us? Eventually they followed us.
06.45 Barta’ah Reichan checkpoint
A few Palestinians who have crossed from the West-Bank were waiting for work in the seam-line zone, and also a few taxis. The reason for the small number was apparently the relatively late hour (the checkpoint opened at 05:00), and also because during Ramadam fewer people went out to work.
07:07 At this hour, only a few people passed through, and only one inspection window was open. From time to time a few workers arrived, and we greeted them with “Ramadam Karim”. Some of them said that their passage was quick and others complained of a slow passage. It wasn’t clear to us which was true.
07:45 We left the checkpoint. Outside we chatted with a driver and he confirmed that during Ramadam far fewer Palestinians go out to work
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07:50 Tura-Shaked checkpoint
At this hour most of those passing through this checkpoint (which opens at 07:00) have already passed and gone to their work. Here too the limited number of those passing through was related to the Ramadam fast. There was a lot of dirt and pollution beside the rubbish-bin which was overflowing with garbage. A taxi arrived and waited for a few people who came out one by one and went on their way.
08:10 We too went on our way. Wadi Ara was quiet and tranquil at that hour.
'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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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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