Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
14:10 – Tura Shaked Checkpoint
The checkpoint is quiet and empty. Two pedestrians cross to the West Bank and one woman crosses to the seamline zone. The superfluous facilities look even more absurd than usual, and the presence of garbage is noticeable everywhere.
14:40 – Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint
Two women and some children are waiting for a ride on the seamline zone side. We cross to the Palestinian side. The large parking lot and the auxiliary parking lots on the side of the road are all full. The Palestinian security people have already finished their shift. Agricultural workers arrive carrying bags of oranges, and the smell of citrus fruits fills the air. Our old friends the seamstresses who work in the sewing factories in Barta’a greet us amiably and get into minibusses to go home. Some of them are residents of Zibda, Yaabed, Kabtiya, and even Tulkarem, which is much further away. We bought baklava and a soft drink from someone who has converted his car into a concession stand. We asked him about the resourceful disabled man with the motor scooter who sold coffee and snacks. Evidently he came often but the people in charge at the checkpoint made him leave. According to the man selling baklava, when he explained to them that he was unable to do any other work because of his disability he was told that they were not interested. They also attempted to send him away, telling him that the checkpoint is not a marketplace and he could not open a stall there, but he has continued to come, claiming that it’s only a car with the back door open. His baklava is excellent and the soft drinks taste like soft drinks sold in Israel a long time ago.
Trucks are still waiting to be checked and entered the inspection facility while we were at the checkpoint.
We heard on the radio that officers from the Liaison and Coordination Administration confiscated tons of cut wood that were supposed to be sent to charcoal factories in northern Sumaria. No one mentioned this and we did not ask.
15:20 – A’anin Checkpoint
People are waiting to cross. Meanwhile a man shows us the protocol and verdict from his trial that took place in the Magistrate’s Court in Hadera regarding illegal entry into Israel. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment – two of which are prohibition for an identical previous transgression. To this they have added two months of imprisonment with two years of probation. The 45-day appeal period has passed. The entire document is written in Hebrew which the “criminal” is unable to read.
At 15:30 the soldiers arrived on time and many people continued to arrive. Everyone crossed quickly without delay.
We left at 15:50. The soldiers are supposed to remain at the checkpoint until 16:30. According to the Liaison and Coordination Administration the olive harvest will continue until November 30th.
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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