Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
Tura-Shaked checkpoint 06.50 – 08.00
People are already waiting in front of the turnstile on the W.Bank side, and in front of the closed gates on the seam zone side. At 7.10 there is still no sign of the soldiers who work the checkpoint. We therefore phoned the Menashe territorial brigade. They said they knew of the delay, but soldiers would arrive immediately. At 7.30 there was still no sign of soldiers, the waiting queues on both sides got longer, including cars, a horse on the W. Bank side and a donkey on the seam zone side. We again called the brigade – it turned out that the soldiers had reported that the delay was due to a “balagan about the keys”, but they would come any moment. And indeed, 5 minutes later a transport arrived unloading 4 Military Policemen, who quickly opened the gate and operated it immediately, so that the first person waiting emerged from the sleeve at 7.40. Afterwards pedestrians passed quite quickly, but passage of cars was delayed: First pass the cars from the W. Bank to the seam zone, and afterwards in the opposite direction. When we left at 8 o’clock not all had passed – that means that there were people who waited at the checkpoint a full hour (!). Workers arriving after a night shift in the industrial area, who waited with us in front of the closed gate, told us that all week there were delays in opening the gates in the morning.
Barta’a – Reןhan checkpoint 08.10 – 08.35
When we arrived, relatively late, the upper parking lot was crowded with cars, but quite empty of people. Most had already left. From the terminal there were still additional people exiting and traffic was quite busy. In the terminal two windows were open and there was a long queue in front of them. Someone coming out said “Today is not good. Slow. It took 15 minutes to pass.”
Perhaps minor, but annoying – A woman’s dress was caught by a metal wire protruding in the turnstile as she was going out towards the W. Bank.
In the upper parking lot, 2 shade shelters have been added, at the expense of 4 parking spots.
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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