Barta'a-Reihan
6:50-7:25 Tura-Shaked checkpoint
We arrive ten minutes before the checkpoint was due to open, along with the first of the Palestinians. Smelly trash is overflowing in every direction, drawing bees and flies.
At 7am soldiers arrive and open the checkpoint, but because it takes a while to get everything organized the first people cross through only at 7:15.
Now the crossing of pedestrians and vehicles proceeds without delay. Though there aren’t that many.
7:35-8:00 Barta’a Reihan checkpoint
It’s very crowded here: the upper parking lot is full and it’s hard to find a spot; many people are awaiting shared rides; lots of people are going up the sleeve.
In the terminal four stations are open and we don’t see a line in front of them. Everything seems to be flowing without delay and we are told “today all is well.” We timed a few people’s crossing at five minutes. Now fewer people seem to be arriving and one of the stations closes. We observe one man who is prevented from entering the seam zone, but since he can’t enter the terminal we can’t determine exactly what happened – a revoked permit, lack of permission, or….
When we left there was almost no traffic at the terminal, and most of those waiting in the parking lot had already driven off.
On the way back we saw that the tobacco harvest has begun – the lower leaves and the first חצבים.
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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