Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
Tura – Shaked Checkpoint, 06:53-07:20
The checkpoint was already open several minutes before the official opening time at 07:00 and the soldiers were getting organized. Everything was running smoothly and the first person crossed from the West Bank at 07:05.
During the past few months there has been very little traffic at this checkpoint on Saturdays. Perhaps this is due to permits have been cancelled and not been issues, and there are few jobs in agriculture?) Today there were slightly more people crossing as opposed to previous Saturdays but still not many. Vehicles and everyone crossed without delay in both directions.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, 07:30 – 08:00
There were many people crossing here and there were many taxis waiting in the upper parking lot. And groups of workers were waiting for their rides on the side of the road.
We walked down to the terminal and many people were coming up in the other direction. One person angrily told us that crossing was very slow and that only one window was open in the terminal.
A young man showed us his green [Palestinian] ID card with a sticker on the cover that said “Special Security Forces” and other markings that we could not understand. He asked us to explain what they were. Aside from the meaning of the initials for “Special Security Forces” we did not know what to tell him. We understood that the sticker was placed there at the checkpoint on the same morning when we met him in the sleeve after he had crossed the checkpoint. He could not tell us if he had received any instructions or warning. We gave him a note with contact information for Sylvia.
When we reached the entrance to the terminal we saw that there were four inspection windows open and that there was a line in front of them. Another person who came out told us that it took him 40 minutes to get through the checkpoint. Our view was blocked and we could not see what was happening and could not follow what was happening to people coming in or time how long it took them. Meanwhile one of the people coming out told us that crossing today was quick and easy. “Really?” we asked. “Yes, really. I like them. Do you think I would say so for no reason?” Later another person told us that he had crossed quickly and it is difficult to know for sure. Possibly some people are delayed and others are not. At any rate a lot of people were crossing to the seamline zone, and a few were crossing to the seamline zone.
Several people approached us and asked for help obtaining permits and eliminating bans to enter Israel. We gave them Sylvia’s contact information. Thank you Sylvia, Ronit, Hannah and tami and everyone else who deal with the hopeless requests of people who want to work in Israel.
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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