‘Anin, Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Tue 12.11.13, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
06:05 A’anin agricultural checkpoint
The checkpoint opened at about 06:15. More than 100 people had crossed by 06:45, including many youths. We didn’t see any problems nor hear any unusual complaints, though their absence shouldn’t mitigate the seriousness of the limitations imposed on residents trying to go from one part of their country to another. They’re still subject to the occupation authorities and unable to move freely in their homeland.
07:00 Tura checkpoint – a “fabric of life” checkpoint, according to the army’s wearisome Newspeak.
Dozens crowd around the inspection building before crossing to the seam zone. Some tell of people living in Tura/Yabed, whose lands adjoin the Tura checkpoint and who had always been granted permits to cross there, and who recently, when their permits were renewed, found an error had occurred – the permits specified they could cross only via Barta’a, which is far away. It costs them time and money to get here. They say the Salem DCO admitted the error, and will instruct soldiers at the Tura checkpoint to let them through. But soldiers at Tura said they were never notified of this, and sent them to the checkpoint specified in their permit. We tried to speak to one of the soldiers/officers at the Tura checkpoint to find out what was going on, but were unsuccessful. The soldier refused to listen or talk to us. Whoever picked up the phone at the DCO said those people had always crossed via Barta’a. Those harmed by the error continue to argue that Barta’a is far from their lands. In order to resolve the issue they’ll have to return to Salam DCO and prove their lands are near Tura checkpoint, not Barta’a.
08:00 New Barta’a checkpoint
About ten pickup trucks laden with merchandise and many private cars wait on the road to go through. We didn’t stay long enough to see how long it took to cross. Trucks, pickups and a few Palestinians cross to the West Bank. People move through the fenced corridors to and from the terminal. Taxis wait for riders. Everything’s normal under occupation.
'Anin checkpoint (214)
See all reports for this place-
'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.
-
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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).
-
Tura-Shaked
See all reports for this place-
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)
Ruti TuvalMar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
-
