‘Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Thu 28.2.13, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
A’anin checkpoint, 05:55
[Photo: Misty dawn at the A’anin checkpoint]
The checkpoint is open, residents of A’anin (on the West Bank) are already coming out toward the seam zone with their agricultural or employment permits. Since fewer seem to be coming through (some also were not allowed through; they were sent back), the crossing permits issued for the olive harvest, which has ended, must have expired. And in fact, based on conversations with people and the many appeals to us for help obtaining crossing permits, we get the impression that the occupier is, increasingly, severely limiting the number eligible for permits, particularly farmers who are kept away from their lands – their source of income, their pride, the essence of their tradition and their existence.
The seam zone is the area sliced away from the Palestinian villages by the separation fence that was erected in order to annex the settlements to Area C, under Israeli control. Every plot of land in the seam zone belonging to a West Bank resident entitles the owner and their family members to X crossing permits so they can work it. More permits are granted for large plots than for small ones. Prior to the occupation and the fence, all members of the family could participate in the various farming tasks on the family’s land. Today the occupier (who might – could it be? – covet the land for himself) makes it harder for the farmers to reach their land, whether they’re the land’s legal owner or their heirs (who aren’t the owners), or hired laborers. Suddenly they find their permits aren’t renewed. They are prevented from reaching their lands. Why? They’re not told.
That’s Fadi’s story as well. He’s 34, was born and lives in A’anin, married with three children. His 9 year old son fell from the second storey and received a brain injury. We met Fadi last month at the checkpoint. He said that for more than a year his wife hasn’t been able to obtain a crossing permit, that his permit is due to expire and he fears it won’t be renewed (and it wasn’t). He asked for help. The permits of his father and two brothers (they’re the only four people working the family’s land; the father is the legal owner) aren’t being renewed either. Why? They’re not told. He went to the Palestinian liaison office (irtibat); they told him he’s blacklisted from crossing to the seam zone. Why? They don’t know. He went to the Salem DCO, where he was told he’s blacklisted. Why? They won’t say.
We inquired at the Civil Administration (a military body that runs the lives of Palestinians in the occupied territories), and heard an interesting version: his wife was caught going through the checkpoint with false papers (so it’s a punishment). Fadi swears that never happened. Another interesting version: the quota of permits for his family’s land has been filled. Fadi doesn’t understand. Who could have received permits for his family’s land? Only he, his father and his two brothers apply to cultivate it. No permit had been granted or renewed for any of them. Listen, he tells me on the phone, I can’t keep going to Salem; I can’t afford the taxis. Nor do they tell me why I’m blacklisted. Help me.
Shaked-Tura checkpoint 07:00
[Photo: A section of the pedestrian fenced corridor]
A military ambulance is parked on the Tura (West Bank) side of the checkpoint, alongside a police bomb squad vehicle with all its antennas and devices and accessories. We didn’t understand what was happening. The soldiers were working calmly. People cross as they do every day. Lots of action when the checkpoint opens, but three-quarters of an hour later everything will slow down and the soldiers will start yawning. The checkpoint is fairly small, occupies less than a dunum, but it’s bursting with coiled and straight fences, traffic lights, traffic signs, gates, sheds, concrete barriers, signs, canopies, people sheltering and more and more installations that aren’t really necessary, all crowded together, the evidence of corrupt planning, waste of taxpayers’ money and sheer stupidity – not necessarily in that order – crying out to the heavens.
Reihan-Barta’a checkpoint 07:45
At the checkpoint we picked up two women from the West Bank. One had received a bone marrow transplant and was on her way to Rambam hospital for treatment; the other accompanied her. We went through the truck inspection area. One of the supervisors from the civilian security company running the checkpoint escorted us efficiently and politely.
'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)
Ruti TuvalMar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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