Barta’a-Reihan, Tayba-Rummana, Tura-Shaked
06:10 – Barta'a Reihan Checkpoint
It is extremely cold – -2 C. Several tenders are waiting in the Palestinian parking lot with agricultural produce wrapped in plastic (photo on right) . There is a short line
next to the turnstile at the entrance to the terminal that quickly grew until 150 people were waiting. Iad, the volunteer who keeps order in the morning arrives, but it appears that
everyone is keeping order by themselves without his being present. People formed a double line and moved ahead slowly towards the entrance. Iad estimates that about 200 people cross here each morning on their way to work in the settlements or as far as Tel Aviv. He tells us, "I bless you in the name of the Palestinian People and what you are doing for us." Neta adds that we are doing it for ourselves as well.
06:35 – A'anin Agricultural Checkpoint
This checkpoint is open twice each week for one half hour during the morning and afternoon. People cross here who have agricultural permits or work permits. The checkpoint opens and the sun rises, raising the temperature by a degree. People crossing estimated that about 50 people arrived at the checkpoint this morning and as far as we saw all of them crossed. One man turned back and quickly returned to the village. Evidently his wife had called and said that she did not feel well and asked him to return home. The women whom we do not know approached us smiling and approached us, probably because we were also wrapped up against the cold. They took pictures of together with us with their mobile phones and then rode with us. For a while the occupation was forgotten. We were simply five women whose eyes were watering because of the cold who were happy to meet each other.
07:15 – Fabric of Life Checkpoint Tura Shaked (1 degree C)
After much discussion the mayors of the villages of Um-A Reihan and Dahar al Malakh managed to get the checkpoint opened earlier, including on Saturdays. The checkpoint now opens at 06:30 – enabling people to get to work on time. Previously they appealed to the civil authorities through an attorney, and succeeded in lengthening the hours during which the checkpoint is open from a few hours to all day, which was an impressive achievement. Today, however, despite the arrangement that it would open at 06:30, the checkpoint did not open until 07:30 and everyone was angry. The checkpoint is filled with people in all the posts – the soldiers' positions, the inspection points for pedestrians and the vehicle crossings. The checkpoint serves a small population and is empty during most of the hours it is open. Farmers from A'anin who want very much to get a permit to cross here to work their land will not receive one because people cannot hold a crossing permit for two checkpoints.
The garbage container at the entrance to the checkpoint is overflowing again. Rachela and Tzvia joined us. They are checking the agricultural checkpoints to verify the rumor that they will soon be closed, due to the idea that whatever is bad for the Palestinians is good for the Jews.
08:05 – Tibeh Romana Agricultural Checkpoint
Hundreds of people are crossing to work their land or to do business in Um El Fahem.
About 30 pedestrians and a tractor were waiting in a crowded group for border policemen who arrived, opened the checkpoint, and let everyone with permit cross without delay. One person crossing remarked, "I was born into the occupation (after1948) and I'll die under the occupation. Nothing will change."
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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).
-
Tayba-Rummana
See all reports for this place-
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).
-
Tura-Shaked
See all reports for this place-
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)
Ruti TuvalMar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
-
