Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
North, 14.08.2016 Morning
Karin Atadgi, Ruthi Tuval (photos, reporting)
Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham
05:45 – Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint, Palestinian Side
The line is not particularly long. It occasionally grows longer and then diminishes again. Five women are waiting patiently next to the free turnstile. When we managed to get the attention of the person responsible for opening the turnstiles she immediately opened it for them. The men in line inside the terminal immediately let them go through first in order to save them the embarrassment of being crowded together with the men.
Two people approached us. One has a permit that was renewed three days ago but according to the inspectors he has been banned by the police from entering Israel. The other fails to enter through one inspection point but succeeds in crossing through another after an hour, wasting valuable time.
06:20 – There is now a long waiting line. We measured the time it took for people to get from the end of the line to the turnstile and it took ten minutes.
The coffee vendor is still there and many people are buying coffee.
06:45 – Shaked – Tura CheckpointToday the checkpoint opened on time at 06:30 and people are crossing quickly. We were told that on Saturday crossing was particularly slow, but today people are pleased. One of them praises the soldiers who make things go more smoothly, as opposed to the border patrol who make things difficult and are disliked.
07:30 – Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint, Seamline Zone SideMany workers are still waiting for their rides to work and more and more are coming out of the terminal. The two vehicle inspection points are operating and a small truck loaded with eggs is being checked. Have they opened the inspection facility earlier? We hear cheering and a crowd of people are gathered next to the kiosk. One of the security guards approaches us as we return to our car looking surprised and thinks we are lost.
We spoke with M. from the village of Sida, which is located in the West Bank not far from the checkpoint. He is 45 years old, speaks fluent Hebrew, and is the father of six daughters and a son, three of whom are students at A-Najakh University. He owns a marble stonecutting factory in East Barta’a. Last Thursday two IDF bulldozers arrived at 05:00 in the morning and drove onto one of the areas belonging to the factory. They destroyed buildings and machinery and confiscated valuable equipment under the pretext that he is infringing upon the land of the settlement of Ilan located some distance away. Another factory located nearby was saved from being demolished by an important person from a community in Wadi Eron. Meanwhile M. has been forced to dismiss eight workers but he intends to look or a new location and continue to serve his numerous clients in Israel. Karin took a video about M. and his story that will be published.
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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