Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
07:35 – 08:00 Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
As we arrived the site was practically vacant. A group of people who had gone through inspection waited for rides on the side of the road.
It seems that this morning the checkpoint opened on time and even a bit earlier.
Passage was quick. There may have been fewer people as well. While we were there people had gone through from one side to the other without any delays and that was true for vehicles as well. If we are not mistaken the soldiers on checkpoint duty this morning were of the Nahal brigade.
08:10 – 08:50 Barta'a-Rihan Checkpoint
The car park is packed with taxis and people who come out of the sleeve of the terminal, on their way to work. At this time there are fewer people. Two windows are open and passage is swift. We registered 4 minutes per person to cross from the West Bank into the Seam Line zone. It was unclear whether they were more efficient at this site or there were fewer people. We spoke with people who told us that indeed passage today has been swift and also that there were fewer people. They added that the main problem recently has been the Ya'abed/Dotan checkpoint, which is now manned at almost all times (unlike Rihan which is not always operational) and still causes delays of an hour at times.
And so we drove to the Ya'abed checkpoint – and sure enough there was a line of about 20 cars waiting to cross from the side of the West Bank into the Seam Line zone (cars going eastward, to the other direction, do not undergo inspection). Sometimes vehicles go through slowly and at times they are stopped for a papers' inspection. Also there are times when passengers are asked to get out while the car is being inspected. We timed it – 18 minutes for vehicles' passage.
This hour (09:15) it is not usually known for heavy traffic.
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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