Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
05:30 – Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint
A lot of workers have already gone through the terminal and are waiting for their rides to work in the upper parking lot. A group of women is also waiting. A steady stream of people is making their way through the fenced-in sleeve that leads out of the terminal.
05:40 – The lower parking lot is still partially empty. People are entering the terminal in large groups without having to wait.
06:00 – The parking lot filled up and the line grew longer, but remained orderly. A 55-year-old man told us that he has been working in Israel for years, but recently there has been a problem with his magnetic card. He has been detained and then released without being told what happened. Today he was detained again and was told by the security guard that he had to go to the Liaison and Coordination Administration and see the Special Security services. He was upset and explained that he, nor any member of his family, had ever had any security problems. His children are in Russia studying at the university.
At 06:10 the line became longer and extended all the way to the road. This is the rush hour when everyone is going to work. There was no pushing or shoving and everyone knew that he would eventually get his turn. A young man tried to enter the line with his friend and the ushers quietly reminded him that he had to wait in line like everyone else.
More than 30 trucks were waiting in the vehicle inspection line. Most of them had been waiting since 03:00 and the facility would only open at 08:00. We talked to the drivers who once again asked why the facility does not open earlier. We explained that we had not succeeded in making any changes in the opening hours, and their spokesman also explained that he had not succeeded either. Evidently checking pedestrians and vehicles at the same time would require more manpower, making the running of the checkpoint more expensive.
06:40 – Tura Shaked Checkpoint
The soldiers were present as well as Palestinians, but no one was crossing the checkpoint. The tobacco had already been harvested in the field nearby and the field is being prepared for the next planting. At 06:46 the first Palestinian woman crossed and we greeted each other.
People continued to come through the checkpoint. Some waited for rides and others continued to walk to the next junction. Evidently the checkpoint will be open on Yom Kippur since it is a “fabric of life” checkpoint.
The first school children arrived at 07:15. We left for home.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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).
-
Tura-Shaked
See all reports for this place-
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
-