‘Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Thu 5.11.09, Morning
06:10: 'Aanin CP (agricultural barrier)
The CP opened at 05:30 and the soldiers were on duty. By the time of our arrival, the passage of workers was at full swing; some 40 workmen from the village of 'Aanin had entered the seamline zone, and we were told by the Palestinians that the checking of documents and the inspection procedures were efficient and speedy. Since these are done in the center of the lower-level CP, in the area removed from our sight, we had difficulty in following the process.
In the CP area there is an accumulation of garbage (plastic bags, furniture remains, construction rubble), blowing away in all directions. Due to the lack of someone responsible, this treasure of nature is turning into a refuse dump. Under the trees there were three sacks of sawdust (probably discarded once rejected permission). A "new" soldier explains that merchandise cannot be transferred through these agricultural gates. Even sawdust assumes the title of "merchandise" in these domains.
06:30: Speedy and efficient passage. The workmen estimated that 50 more were still waiting to get through. A Palestinian showed us his permit and told us that most of the permits were limited to the end of this month (30.9.09) – the end of the olive harvest season – and only a numbered few received a full year's permit. All requests for extension of passage permits were rejected – olive harvesting is but one aspect of the farmers' need to cross over in order to tend their orchards and fields. The villagers intend to protest this situation fiercely, including to the Arabic media. This year the yield is very meager and the man lays the blame on the occupying forces, which severely restricted the farmers' access and ability to cultivate their plots (pruning, plowing, etc.) throughout the year and protect them from the damage inflicted by the sheep and goat herds roaming the area (for instance, from Umm El Fahm). "Whom have we not approached, who did we not talk with", he claims, "with the Israeli and Palestinian Liaison Offices, with officers at the CP, with the municipal authorities of Umm El Fahm, but all to no avail.
7:00: We left but were told that 25 more Palestinians were still waiting. A total of some 100 men will be crossing over this morning. No women among them.
07:10: Shaked-Tura CP
Scores of people crowding up the turnstile area, together with a herd of goats. The soldiers are handling the situation calmly and at a reasonable pace. At 7:20 the schoolchildren start arriving. The older ones pass through without delay, but it is the younger ones who need to present their identification documents in order to verify their presence on the soldier's list; they have to pass behind a muddy concrete parapet.
07:30: Mini-van taxis arrive, transferring passengers from the seamline zone to the West Bank; they are checked (permits, baggage trunks) and continue on their way. The atmosphere is calm, peaceful discussions, seemingly a sort of reconciliation with the occupation – how else can one explain the ambience of the situation.
Some 60 persons crossed into the seamline zone, 15 more still waiting to get through.
7:40: Rehan-Barta'a CP
Three- four vans carrying agricultural products from the West Bank are waiting for inspection in order to cross over to Barta'a. We had not noted the waiting time. The parking lot was full of vehicles of those leaving the WB to their work in the seamline zone. A constant stream of passers-through, some scores while we were there. Usually the passage is smooth, though at times there is some pressure prior to entrance into the inspection areas. The people have accustomed themselves to the procedures, seemingly "accepting" the situation and only those equipped with the necessary documents show up at the crossing. Here we have an example of the "banality of the occupation", which wears down resistance, hides the degradation and insult of those lucky enough to secure permits.
Our report, of course, deals only with Palestinians who are fortunate enough to actually hold permits, reach the checkpoints and cross over to work in construction or till their land.
'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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