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‘Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Thu 7.1.10, Morning

Observers: Miriam Z, Shula B (reporting)
Jan-07-2010
| Morning

Translating Louis W.

06:15 Aanin Checkpoint
The checkpoint at the foot of Um el-Fahm, east of the separation fence, is an agricultural checkpoint designed, according to the occupier, to preserve the fabric of life of the residents of Aanin, in other words the preservation of the continuous link with their agricultural fields trapped inside the northern Seam Zone enclave. Recently we have reported that the Civil Administration has not renewed transit permits of Aanin and neighbouring farmers and therefore in practice the flow of transients, morning and evening at the checkpoint, can be seen to be lessening daily. So much for the fabric of life. The olive groves of those who do not succeed in coming out to cultivate them each year are neglected, weedy and deteriorating. Who profits from that?

According to the few crossing this morning, ten people have passed the checkpoint, "and that’s how it is every day." At 06:30 there was no Palestinian at the checkpoint, and the soldiers closed the main gate and came to talk to us. They confirmed the numbers. "The olive picking season is over," they explain politely, and recite without thinking "so they have nothing for which to cross…"

06:55 Reihan Checkpoint
The lower (Palestinian) parking lot begins to fill with vehicles of West Bank Palestinians come to work in flourishing East Bartaa. The traffic to the Seam Zone is still light. A young man coming out of the terminal towards the West Bank (he visited Bartaa and is now on his way home), is requested to return to the table in front of the emplacement where Big Brother sits, seeing but unseen, and asked to open his bag and expose the contents. "A cake, that’s good," the voice of Big Brother, "lift it, take it out." Finally the young man packs his belongings while the Palestinians waiting to enter the terminal prod him to move on.

A pickup loaded with agricultural produce waits to be called for inspection. In the compound some trucks. "Today it’s okay," says one of the drivers transporting fruit and vegetables from the West Bank to East and West Bartaa, and thence to wherever possible in Israel.

In the upper lot, vehicles waiting to transport workers spewing out of the terminal. Ten workers, having finished the check, are standing on the road waiting for Mustafa, their driver, to take them to Shahak Industrial Zone. He has already been delayed for an hour in the vehicle checkpoint. They say he is delayed every morning (and afternoon) for half an hour, an hour, an hour and a half – and they are late for work.

Sharon, the checkpoint manager, knows the driver, knows that he has problems (which he can’t detail to us), and therefore he is always stopped for a thorough examination. This morning he has been delayed only half an hour, but "as you know, he can be detained for three hours."
It has been some time since we last heard that educational contention. By the time we left, Mustafa was out and had collected the ten workers. The playground in the centre of the checkpoint is spick and span, standing silently as though waiting for a visit from Tony Blair.
 
07:40 Shaked Checkpoint
At this hour, almost no one. No teachers, no schoolchildren large or small. Perhaps winter break has already begun in the schools.
 
  • '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

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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)
      מחסום עאנין:  פרצה מפוארת במרכז המחסום
      Mar-21-2022
      Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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