'Anin, Barta'a-Reihan, Ya'bed-Dotan
This shift took place the day the Israeli Minister of Security called for a boycott of Um Al Fahem in response to stone throwing at Israeli vehicles on the part of residents of the city.
On our way to Yaabed Checkpoint we noticed the lights of a military jeep near the pillbox on the hill opposite the junction. To the east are Jenin and Yaabed and to the west are Chermesh and Kapin, and to the north is the Barta’a Reihan checkpoint, which appears quiet as usual. We decided to drive up and were surprised to discover that the soldiers were not upset by our invasion of the place and did not prevent us from observing their activities, the rocky surroundings, and the heartbreaking Palestinian village of Emricha.
15:15 – Chermesh Checkpoint
We wanted to see the deep cracks in the road for ourselves. Similar ones have already been removed at Yaabed Checkpoint. The checkpoint was unmanned. For drivers who pass through every day it is no laughing matter and they attempt to pass through on the sides of the road to avoid the cracks.
15:30 – Yaabed Checkpoint
There are a larger numbers of soldiers and vehicles in the area of Emricha. The soldiers told us that last week a bus that was driving along a regular route was shot at. The Yaabed Checkpoint was not manned and traffic was moving.
15:45 – Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint
The parking lot was completely filled and we made our way to the only turnstile that was turning without stopping and letting people through to the West Bank. The few people going in the opposite direction were pleading to change the direction of the turnstile so that they could cross. Many people asked Elia for help with permits, fines, and clarifying various things, and she answered everyone with remarkable patience. We thought that one driver shouted at us, “Mukhabarat!” (Special Security forces) and this was the only exception to the warm manner that Palestinians at the Barta’a Checkpoint receive us Machsom Watchers.
16:30 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
A frightened goat was tied to an electricity pole near the checkpoint to be taken across in the morning to Tura on the other side of the checkpoint. The soldiers claimed that there was no permit to take the goat across right now. The soldiers is busy on the phone, waiting for permission from the Liaison and Coordination Administration at Salem. Traffic is light as usual and the sight of the goat waiting to cross at the red light is surreal.
We returned home via Um Al Fahem. To our disappointment the art gallery was closed. No one in the city seems the least bothered by our presence nor by our Minister of Security.
'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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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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