Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
06.25-06.55. Turah – Shaked checkpoint.
In the past month since we were last here the tobacco plants have grown in te fields and they are now in bloom; the piles of refuse all around have also grown. The checkpoint did not open in time at 6.30, the soldiers arriving only at 6.40. But they organized quickly and already at 6.50 the first Palestinian emerged from the checkpoint opening into the seamline zone.
On average the numbers passing (pedestrians and vehicles) were greater than in the most recent previous watches of ours, but smaller than in the past.
07.05-07.30. Barta’a – Reihan checkpoint.
Here the traffic is at a peak: groups of workers who came from the West Bank and passed in the terminal come up towards us to their transport vehicles to work. Particularly noticeable are two groups of women and two individual women. Usually we do not meet groups of women but today, coming early, we managed to meet the group of seamstresses and the women who set out early to work on Shabbat. We measured 8-15 minutes for people to pass. Passage seemed to be smooth, without delays. In the terminal 4 checking windows were open and when we left there were no longer any lines in front of them.
While we were still wondering if there had been an improvement in the state of “refused permits,” because no one had approached us about this issue – behold suddenly a man came, asking for help in cancelling his ‘refused’ status. Of course he received “Sylvia’s note.” According to the number of those passing and the few who turn to us for help, we do get the impression that there has been an improvement – but this is an impression only, not based on any solid facts.
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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