Back to reports search page

‘Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Mon 7.4.08, Afternoon

Place: 'Anin checkpoint (214) Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint Tura-Shaked
Observers: Ricky, Ruthy, T. (reporting)
Apr-07-2008
| Afternoon
Translation: Devorah K.
13:40 – 16:00
13:40 Shaked-Tura CP
We intended to observe the children coming back from school on the West Bank to their homes in the seamline zone. But, according to the soldiers, who banished us courteously to the other side of the gate without any people near it — we missed the crowd by about half an hour. On the road that descends from the gate, we saw only three tiny children going downhill, with no adult to supervise them. The soldiers sat down to have a meal.

14:00 Reihan-Barta'a CP

We drove down to the lower parking lot. At the entrance gate to the terminal, there is not a single soul. In the inspection shed, there are no cars. A few vehicles are waiting for the workers who are to return from their work. Rumor has it that the man who was killed last night in Umm-el-Fahm was connected to the person who manages the fleet of taxis in the region. That is why many taxis are on strike today and the price for a ride has gone up from ten shekels to 15.
Equipped with some halvah that we bought from Walid, we climbed up to the sleeve of the upper entrance to the terminal.
At 14:20 the workers begin to arrive. Four workers go through the terminal in the direction of the West Bank in two minutes.
14:25 – Ten workers loaded down with sacks of oranges arrive, they say, from  Kerem-Maharal. In the morning they went through at the Taibeh CP. They leave the terminal in one minute.

14:55 A'anin CP
About 25 adults, four children, and five tractor drivers on their vehicles — are waiting for the gates to open. Afterwards, some more people will arrive. The gate is opened exactly at three o'clock. We observe those going through from an olive grove and through a barbed wire fence, as close as possible to the place where they encounter the soldiers and the cameras.
The passage is conducted quickly (40 seconds on the average for each worker) and pleasantly, by two soldiers who smile, and are aware of our presence close by. A man who approaches the soldiers walking quickly is asked to stop and show his undershirt. After that he goes through quickly. A strong wind that comes up every once in a while scatters papers at the inspection post.
The soldiers approach the gate, claim that half the workers who went through in the morning have not returned, even though they know that they will lose their permits because of this.
The gates are locked at four o'clock.

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