Barta'a-Reihan, Hermesh, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan
15:00 – 17:00
Harish and Ya’bed Checkpoints
The traffic zigzags quite freely. At the Ya’bed checkpoint, a nice, seemingly sympathetic soldier and officer ask us to introduce ourselves. As usual, we describe the anomaly of governing by a foreign army, the daily lives of citizens. They obviously refuse to see themselves as a soldier of an occupation. They simply serve the security of the State of Israel.
Barta’a Checkpoint
The roads next to the checkpoint, on the Palestinian side, are devoid of cars. We figured out what happened: the police fined dozens of drivers who parked there, a very heavy fine: NIS 400 per car. All the parking lots, including those far away, were totally full. We also had to park in a place farther away than usual.
A merchant in Hadera complains that he is not allowed to pass through the Barta’a checkpoint before 07:00 and so has to cross at a distant checkpoint. He asks that we help him cross at 06:00. Anyone who has a new magnetic card is unable to cross with it. Indeed, in the end, he crosses after a computerized inspection. However, he has to get a new card for, losing a whole ‘s worth of work. To the two young coffee sellers, two more were added. They run around between the cars with their thermos bottles.
Tura Checkpoint
A man greeted us and told us what sounded like a delusional story: he has to present a birth certificate for each one of his small children, every time he passes through the checkpoint. It isn’t enough to bring his identity card. A male and a female soldier approached us who told us this was indeed the truth. They confessed that they have no logical explanation for this demand.
We asked our guest, who is Rachel’s colleague at the Haifa University library what her impressions were of her first visit to the “Land of Checkpoints.” She said that the checkpoints aroused in her fear and associations of the ghetto, giving emphasis to the phrase “the normalcy of the occupation” that has recently been critically discussed on the internet.
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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Hermesh
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Hermesh
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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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Ya'bed-Dotan
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Ya’bed-Dotan
This checkpoint is located on road 585, at the crossroads of Mevo Dotan settler-colony / Jenin/ Ya’abad. It has an army watchtower (‘pillbox’ post) and concrete blocs that slow down vehicular traffic. It was erected when Barta’a Checkpoint, lying to the west on the Separation Fence, was privatized and its operation was passed over to civilian security personnel. Since December 2009 this checkpoint enables flow of Palestinian vehicular traffic towards the Barta’a Checkpoint. Seldom is it manned by soldiers sitting in the watchtower, who conduct random inspections of vehicles and passengers. (february 2020)
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