Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
06:05 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
Many have already passed through to the Seamline Zone and are waiting for rides. Many others go up from the terminal sleeve in a steady stream. In the Palestinian parking lot we meet the attendant in an orange vest who makes sure that we park correctly. The line is long, in two columns, and reaches to the end of the parking lot. People stand in order and exemplary quiet. In very short intervals, the turnstile is opened and about 40-60 people enter the area of the terminal with each opening.
There are three more attendants here, two in the parking lot and one next to the turnstile. Ayad also stands there, the volunteer attendant, the one who started the supervision of the lines. He is full of satisfaction; it was his initiative that started with volunteering which turned into orderly work and a salary for about 5 people. He will continue to come during the next week to see that his legacy works as it should and then return to anonymity. He says, “I grew roses and now everyone enjoys their beautiful scent.” We are a little less enthusiastic about his poetic description with a look at the very long, orderly and quiet line. According to Ayad, the salary of the attendants will be paid by the Barta’a Council and the governing body of Jenin. Next week they will start collecting payment for parking and for the time spent in the parking lot. Five shekel a day for cars and a certain percent per trip from each taxi that picks up passengers in the lot. According to Ayad, the arrangement was achieved through the two strikes the Palestinians waged, the last one on Thursday, 05.05.2015, at the checkpoint. (See the report.)
People continue to arrive and the line is preserved. If someone tries to cut in, Ayad calls him to order. Individual women arrive and pass through the second turnstile, which is also the way to return for those workers who work the nightshift. Ayad asks if tomorrow, Remembrance Day, the checkpoint will be closed. As yet we don’t know. He wishes us a Happy Independence Day. . .
06:45 – Everyone passes through and the line disappears. Two drivers complain about the high fines that the Israel police levy in the West Bank that is in no proportion to the income there. To our sorrow, we know this and we are not able to do anything.
07:00 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
People pass to the Seamline Zone. According to them, “Today is OK.” Individual cars pass. At 07:15 the children from Dahar-Al Malak, who study in Tura, start arriving. The children are charming and well-groomed as usual.
07:00 – There is no one waiting to cross to the Seamline Zone. We leave.
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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