‘Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Thu 9.7.09, Afternoon
15:00 – We arrived at A’anin at opening time, but the gate was locked and there were no soldiers present. Several pedestrians and one man with a tractor were waiting in the makeshift shelter that has been placed next to the gate – a large section of concrete pipe with used electrical equipment attached.
At 3:10 the soldiers had still not arrived to open the gate and Neta called to see what was going on. She was told to call back if they did not come soon, and at 3:12 a Hummer pulled up and a soldier got out and unlocked the gate. The soldiers unlocked the other two gates and began checking people through at 3:16. We were reminded of the Palestinian whose work permit had been revoked as “punishment” for failing to arrive at A’anin on time to return to the West Bank and had come back through Reihan, and the soldier who had smugly justified the punishment by saying: “What would you do if I showed up here at 3:05 instead of 3:00?”
While we were waiting one of the young men approached us and asked how he could get a permit to enter Israel and look for work. He explained that such permits were granted for three days every six months. We were surprised since we have never heard of such a permit. He also asked why people were not given permits to harvest almonds in their orchards in the seamline zone.By 3:25 all the pedestrians and several tractors with bags of sawdust, as well as some bags of used clothing we had brought had passed through the gate. We left at 3:30.
Shaked-Tura
3:45 – The checkpoint is very quiet. One or two vehicles passed through in both directions, and three women came through in the direction of the seamline zone and waited to be picked up. Reihan Barta’a
16:05 – The lower parking lot is full of cars and there are a lot of yellow taxis, which are the only ones permitted to travel any distance within the West Bank. Since private drivers are not permitted to carry passengers for pay by the Palestinian police, the local drivers are limited to short jaunts to the neighboring villages. We drive back through the checkpoint and go to the upper entrance to observe.
A Palestinian approached us and again complained of problems obtaining a work permit: he has a permit to work in Israel but has not been given a permit to work his land in the seamline zone. His question ends with the usual “Ma osim?” (What’s to be done?) We give the usual answer: we’ll try, but can’t promise anything.
From 4:30 until 5:00 the number of workers arriving increased , but only one inspection point was open. Soon there were over 30 people standing in front of the turnstile. Soon there are calls of “Od chalon, allo!” (Hey, open another window!) Neta tries to call S., the checkpoint manager, and ask them to open another window. Within a few minutes there are close to 60 people in front of the turnstile, and all are shouting and angry. Another window finally opens at 5:00 – either as a result of Neta’s phone call or in response to the shouting crowd outside.By 5:10 everyone is inside, including three women who arrived with a child and two men with bicycles who waited for someone to open the gate for them. I “marked” one man who had been standing at the end of the line and noted that it took him 15 minutes just to get to the turnstile and get into the terminal.
Despite the fact that this happens every day at this hour, the checkpoint staff seems unwilling to take the initiative and open a second (or third) window and avoid a backup. On the way out a Palestinian recognizes Neta and stops us.“Why don’t you come and visit?”
“Why?”
“Only Israeli Arabs are allowed to visit the West Bank. We’re not allowed.”
“When will you be allowed?”
“When there’s peace, Insh’Allah.”
'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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