‘Anin, Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Thu 27.9.12, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
Pictures:
1. Shaked checkpoint (one of the small checkpoints) is filled with fences, sheds, emplacements, signs, traffic lights, gates, huts, barbed wire and – a pedestrian crossing. From where to where? For whom?
2. Reihan checkpoint – a view from afar:
the nearer parking lot charges a fee, the farther one is located within the area of the checkpoint. All the vehicles are new, ATV’s, family cars, luxury cars. We hardly see junky Subarus any more.
3. Reihan checkpoint, the upper entrance to the terminal: A tight knot of people waiting.
4. The congestion dissipates. Note the small coolers instead of plastic bags.
15:00 A’anin checkpoint
Three tractors and a few pedestrians returning to the village of A’anin after a day working or hanging around in the seam zone. The soldier says to one of them, “Come on bro’, come on.”
A Tura resident is employed as a cleaner at this and other seam zone checkpoints, as far as the central West Bank. He’s blacklisted from entering Israel (apparently
15:40 Shaked/Tura checkpoint (300)
Another hallucinatory checkpoint which is being upgraded, not necessarily for security reasons. Whoever wants to learn the hypocrisy of the enlightened occupation is invited to visit the northern checkpoints which have been groomed ad-nauseum. A lot of money has been spilled here to create the appearance of virtue. Here are some guys from Wadi ‘Ara completing the installation of a curved plastic roof over the fenced corridor. It will provide shade only when the sun is at its zenith, and stop only the rain falling vertically – but let’s not minimize it; a roof is a considerate gesture that tweaks the occupation’s cheeks, letting it blush modestly at its own humaneness. Not to mention the money the Ministry of Defense pours into the pockets of the contractors building fences, stanchions, plastic installations and the rest of the checkpoint apparatus.
16:10 Dothan-Yabed checkpoint
On our way to the checkpoint we saw that the road to one of the access roads to Yabed which obviates taking a long detour to reach the town is closed and locked by an iron bar. A military vehicle is parked nearby – a kashrut supervisor.
Heavy traffic at the checkpoint itself, flowing in both directions. A pair of soldiers approaches to say hello. “Everything ok? Did you get stuck here?” Yes – for 45 years.
16:35 – 17:00 Reihan checkpoint
Congestion and some confusion at the entrance to the terminal from the seam zone.
An emotional meeting between Neta and the seamstresses. “We haven’t seen you for a long time,” one of them says. My sister.
A few detainees seated on a bench inside the terminal.
A guard directs those waiting: “Those with Israeli permits to the right, those with Barta’a permits to the left.” Their brother.
Within fifteen minutes the congestion eases and the line disappears.
'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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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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