‘Anin, Tayba-Rummana
05:55 ‘Anin checkpoint (Gate 214)
Photo: The checkpoint is closed for 45 minutes.
The lower entrance to the checkpoint, which has three gates, didn’t open for 45 minutes, until an impressive solution was found: the soldiers broke the lock. A total of 15 people on foot and two tractors came today to the checkpoint. Each pedestrian was interrogated and their clothing inspected. Stained work clothes are allowed through – they don’t arouse suspicion the farmer’s on his way to a good time in town. But a white shirt and pants that aren’t torn are signs of evil intentions. Those aren’t work clothes, say the soldiers, where are you really headed? The interrogations are insulting. One man says: “And if I only want to stroll among my olive trees with my wife? Here’s what they say: ‘Strolling isn’t allowed.’” His companion says, “The soldiers’ job at the checkpoint is to drive us crazy.”
Muhanad, from ‘Anin, has an ongoing problem: the first digit of his ID number is missing in the computerized list of people permitted to cross through this checkpoint. When he presents his ID card with the correct number the soldiers say: “It’s not the same number; you can’t cross.” Finally, after a bitter argument, and after he shows them all the other digits are identical, they let him through. He says the same thing happened the last five or six times he went through the ‘Anin checkpoint. Maybe someone could correct the list?
07:15 Tura checkpoint
Photo (on the right): The little ones pass through the fenced corridor on their way to school in Tura.
The checkpoint opens on time. People cross pretty slowly in both directions. No one’s waiting on the seam zone side; about ten people wait at the revolving gate on the Tura side to go through to the inspection building. We’re told the computer is down; documents are being manually inspected, which takes longer.
08:00 Tayba-Rummana checkpoint
Photo (on the left): palestinians Waiting for a sign from the soldier, to cross to the seam zone).
The Border Police arrived on time and immediately began letting people through. Fifteen people and one tractor crossed in 15 minutes. A young man dressed “suspiciously” (too neat) was sent home. Those crossing says it always happens: clean, trim clothing causes problems at the checkpoint…
We gave a father and daughter a ride to Umm el Fahm. The father shows us his torn sleeve cuff, tells us they didn’t believe he was on his way to work. Do these clothes look fancy, he asks?
'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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Tayba-Rummana
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Tayba-Rummana is an agricultural checkpoint. It is located in the separation fence in front of the eastern slopes of the Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. The Palestinian villages next to the checkpoint are Khirbet Tayba and Rummana. Dozens of dunams of olive groves were removed from their owners, the residents of these villages on the western side of the separation fence. The Palestinian villages next to the checkpoint are Khirbet Tayba and Rumna. Dozens of olives dunams were removed from these villages' residents and swallowed up in a narrow strip of space, on the western side of the separation fence. The checkpoint allows the plantation owners who have permits to pass. Twice a week, the checkpoint opens for fifteen minutes in the morning and evening. During the harvest season, it opens every day for fifteen minutes in the morning (around 0630) and fifteen minutes in the afternoon (around 1530). (February 2020).
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