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Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan

Observers: Rochale Chayut (photography), Noah Lavid (reporting)
Aug-01-2015
| Morning

 

0730 – 0810 Tura- Shaked checkpoint

There is disorder today. By the turnstile on the West Bank side there are about 30 angry men and women. They come out of the checkpoint at a slow pace, reporting that this morning (like almost any other day) the checkpoint opened late. The soldiers on site (apparently new here) let in one person every 15 minutes, and in the meantime they talk on their cellphones. They inspect papers at an annoyingly slow pace. Somebody says :"The Arabs are shit, not human," and other ask: "Why don't they let everyone inside and inspect them quickly and then have coffee and play with their phones as much as they wish?" Apparently that the soldiers overheard what was being said and things has started to move faster.

 

We spoke with a Palestinian taxi driver whose car displays a Hebrew "new driver" sign (mandatory in Hebrew in Israel and in Arabic in Palestine). Together with him we followed the news as to the conditions of those wounded in the attack at Duma. Within 40 minutes all had gone through. Whoever comes at this hour, goes through fast. But those who came at 06:30 hoping to go through before 07:00 (the official opening time) had to wait for more than an hour.

 

One person asks for our assistance in renewing his brother's passage permit. His problem is not clear to us. We suggested that he tries the Salem DCO, and gave him a telephone number.

We continued driving straight to the Dotan-Ya'abed checkpoint  – not manned and traffic streams along. There is one soldier at the top of the watchtower.

 

Back to Barta'a-Rihan checkpoint. It is after 09:00 and there is lively traffic of pedestrians and vehicles in both directions The car park is full but there are no lines. Inside the terminal one window is open and passage is swift.

We left around 09:30 at the parking lot we met Marie and Amjad who sent regards to all.

  • 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).

  • 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)
      מחסום עאנין:  פרצה מפוארת במרכז המחסום
      Mar-21-2022
      Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
  • Ya'bed-Dotan

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    • Ya’bed-Dotan

      This checkpoint is located on road 585, at the crossroads of Mevo Dotan settler-colony / Jenin/ Ya’abad. It has an army watchtower (‘pillbox’ post) and concrete blocs that slow down vehicular traffic. It was erected when Barta’a Checkpoint, lying to the west on the Separation Fence, was privatized and its operation was passed over to civilian security personnel. Since December 2009 this checkpoint enables flow of Palestinian vehicular traffic towards the Barta’a Checkpoint. Seldom is it manned by soldiers sitting in the watchtower, who conduct random inspections of vehicles and passengers. (february 2020)

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