‘Anin, Reihan, Mon 30.4.12, Morning
06:05 A'anin: Agricultural CP
They are doing inspection in the middle of the CP; people are waiting. The ritual is routine: A resident approaches the soldiers, stops, shows his permit; sometimes he bends down and waits. The soldier stands opposite him with arms crossed or hands in his pockets; sometimes he looks to see what is in the bag and then the resident takes stuff out and shows it to him – a pita and water, and perhaps a slice of cheese and olives. Another soldier examines the computer. The document is returned to its owner. That is how about 30 residents of A'anin, young and old, go through, some on a donkey, or on a tractor. Sometimes, the human mass takes a few extra steps ahead and then the soldier yells at them in Hebrew and threatens to close the CP gate if they do not retreat. They go back or they do not and the routine goes on. A farmer on his tractor goes through and the soldier tells him to yell at those who are waiting to go back. The tractor driver cooperates and yells the instructions in Arabic adding body language so that they will be entirely clear. A young man arrives with his sick father's permit; he asks to go through to the family's land in his stead. They take his ID and tell him to wait. Toward closing time, they return the ID and send him back home. When we asked about this, the soldier answers: "We work according to the book. If there is a permit, he goes through, if there is no permit, he doesn't go through."
The sweet children are waiting for their ride and in the meantime are reviewing lessons; today there is an exam! And we are free of their bother.
07:00 We leave after the soldiers close quickly.
07:15 Barta'a – Reihan
Many people arrive at the CP in cars, taxis or on foot. Most of them go through to East Barta'a. They tell us that you can't really make a living there. They 'dry out' for a whole day, and in the end have only a few Grush in hand. They claim that Jenin has become a prosperous market town again, and that is at Barta'a's expense.
Passage is quick, and there are no delays. Pickup trucks are being inspected. Others are waiting their turn. The CP itself is being renewed; the stone wall is full of beautiful landscapes; plants are flowering and the Israeli flag flies proudly in the center of the traffic circle. A site of tourism and holidays.
07:45 We shorten our shift. We are taking Ali to the hospital.
'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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