Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
We were not aware that the opening hours of the checkpoints had changed because of the holidays. There is more traffic at 9 in the morning than at this time of day.
Tura – Shaked Checkpoint, 07:20 – 07:35
The checkpoint is open and quiet. A farmer arrived with a donkey and wagon. He says that this year there would not be a good yield of olives because of hot weather. They are waiting for the rain to come and wash the dust off the trees before they begin the harvest. A few people and vehicles arrive and greet us and wish us happy holidays.
Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint 07:45 – 08:10
The gate to the entrance to the terminal is locked, and the parking lot is full.
The upper parking lot is filled with cars, most of which have yellow (Israeli) license plates. There are also a few taxis. However, when we approached the gate to the sleeve leading to the terminal we found it was locked. The taxi drivers explained that the checkpoint opens only at 08:30 because of the holidays, but residents of the seamline zone have permission to cross 24 hours a day.
We saw several people whom we knew coming out of the vehicle inspection area. It is rare to see the entire area of the checkpoint empty at this hour and we attempted to photograph this rare sight.
We left to return home after a brief conversation with people. One of the security guards stood in front of our car and claimed that we had taken photos illegally and told us we would be detained until the checkpoint supervisor arrived. We were told that "we had photographed a security facility." The conversation was conducted with restraint, and at last the guard moved aside when a uniformed man arrived and let us leave.
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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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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