Barta`a checkpoint: the management denies
16.20 – 14.30
A’anin Checkpoint, 14:30
People and tractors were slosly collecting next to the checkpoint to wait for the military policemen to open the gate. Meanwhile the soldiers who were guarding the security fence walked around and talked to us and told the people to put out the campfire they had lit to keep warm.
The checkpoint opened at 15:30 and people crossed.
Barta’a Checkpoint, 15:00
It was still quiet and hagar took advanrage of the time to talk to Y., the vice-manager of the checkpoint He explained that the idea of opening the checkpoint at 04:00 in the morning was still being discussed All 10 positions for examining cards and all four conveyer belts for examining packages were operating. He felt that last week something had gone wrong that had caused crowded conditions, which was contradi contradictory to what we had heard from the workers and what was heard and photographed.
The denial of what was going on in the mornings was also expressed in a letter that was written by thecrossings manager to the Ma’an Organization. And cited thousands of Palestinians who cross at Barta’a Checkpoint. Their response is attached to this report in which they absolve themselves from responsibility. Their letter reveals a lack of knowledge or concern about what is going on.
Residents of the seamline zone were crossing with children in both directions. At 16:00 more and more workers began to return to the West Bank from work.
Tura Checkpoint – About 10 workers returned to the West Ban work in the seamline zone and Israel. One of them told us that the checkpoint had only opened at 08:00 this morning 3 cars crossed from the West Bank to the seamline zone and crossing was very slow.
Residents of the seamline zone with children crossed in both directions, and at 16:00 more and more workers returned to the West bank. One person told us that 55 days ago a member of his family was injured at work and was hospitalized in Rambam Hospital in Haifa. He is due to undergo rehabilitation but the process is being delayed because of the insurance. We gave him the number of the hotline for workers.
'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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