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‘Anin, Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan

Place: 'Anin checkpoint (214) Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint Tura-Shaked Ya'bed-Dotan
Observers: Hassida (Driving), Roni (Reporting). Translation: Bracha B.A.
Aug-10-2015
| Morning
 
06:10 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint
Many workers are waiting for their rides to work. There is no place to sit, so many are sitting on the road and on the sidewalks. There is a steady stream of people coming out of the terminal. People tell us that it took them anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes to get through, but others say that there is no delay. Many people who cross are young men. People stop at the settler's kiosk, which is located inside the sleeve, and has an awning and benches.
We left at 06:30.
 
06:45 – A'anin Checkpoint
Evidently the checkpoint opened on time because we met people who had already crossed. One of the workers told us that he holds a job in Um al Fahem, and that he has a permit to cross at other checkpoints as well as here. He asks that things not get worse. Another person tells us that he is working in his olive grove alone because his wife is not permitted to cross, despite the fact that the Liaison and Coordination Administration insists that she has a permit. We gave her Sylvia's phone number and perhaps she can straighten things out. Each of these stories is a world unto itself.
 
Several other young people cross by 07:00.
 
07:10 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
The checkpoint has not opened yet. Apparently the key to the inspection booth is missing. Two women arrive from the seamline zone and enter the booth, but cannot cross to the checkpoint because the booth is locked. At 07:25 people begin to come out. Three women emerge first and their ride is already waiting. Two cars cross to the seamline zone after being checked. There are fewer people crossing today.
 
At 07:45 we drove past Reihan – Barta'a checkpoint to get to Yaabed. The parking lot is filled with cars, but they are parked in an orderly manner and it appears that people have organized things to keep things orderly. People are entering the terminal immediately and there is no line. About 15 trucks loaded with merchandise are waiting to be checked.
 
08:15 – Yaabed Dotan Checkpoint
The checkpoint is deserted. There are green tobacco fields by the side of the road, and the watchtowers are deserted as well. At Yaabed (not the main entrance) the gate is blocked with a yellow steel gate, as usual. If the gates were open it would make things a lot easier for the residents of the village, but why make things easier? On the other hand, the checkpoint, which is on the road to Jenin, is abandoned, and that does not matter.
We drove back through Barta'a Checkpoint. Most of the workers have left.

  • '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.

  • 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).

  • 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)
      מחסום עאנין: פרצה מפוארת במרכז המחסום
      Mar-21-2022
      Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
      View the full album

  • Ya'bed-Dotan

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    • Ya’bed-Dotan

      This checkpoint is located on road 585, at the crossroads of Mevo Dotan settler-colony / Jenin/ Ya’abad. It has an army watchtower (‘pillbox’ post) and concrete blocs that slow down vehicular traffic. It was erected when Barta’a Checkpoint, lying to the west on the Separation Fence, was privatized and its operation was passed over to civilian security personnel. Since December 2009 this checkpoint enables flow of Palestinian vehicular traffic towards the Barta’a Checkpoint. Seldom is it manned by soldiers sitting in the watchtower, who conduct random inspections of vehicles and passengers. (february 2020)

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