Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan
Checkpoints: “It's good that we are checking; don’t ask questions, good for you Tsahal.” (Anin Checkpoint, where three tractors are delayed for 3 full hours) – “What works, works and what does not work doesn’t.” (Security guard at Barta’a Checkpoint, on the fact that only one inspection machine –out of 4–is working.) But we also meet a security guard who admires and respects us. (Barta’a Vehicle Checkpoint)
Anin Checkpoint, 14:50
Only a few cars and tractors wait in front of the gate to the Palestinian village. One of the tractor operators tells us that he worked for 25 years as a painter in Israel. Next year he will be 55 and eligible to work in Israel without a permit. He tells us about five young men who were not permitted to go to work in the morning because the clothes they were wearing were too nice for someone who claims he is going to work in the olive grove. “The Fashion Police” is back!
The soldiers arrive on time and open the gates. Three tractors and their owners are detained. The tractors are in the middle of the checkpoint close to the gate in the direction of the village, and the farmers are close to the gate of the seamline zone. Two soldiers are guarding them and two others, with their faces covered, are busy with the tractors, photographing them with their cell phones and obviously sending the photos to someone. Among those delayed, we recognize M. He signals us with his hands that he doesn’t understand what is happening. We also do not understand. The soldiers don’t speak with us. M. apologizes that he took up our time. He asks the soldier for water and receives it. From the system road comes an additional army vehicle. When it passes the gate, we ask what is going on and we are privileged to get the answer, “It's good that we are checking. Don’t ask questions; good for you, Tsahal”.
16:00 – Those who are delayed and the tractors are released on their way. Four of the soldiers close the gates and go off. They don’t say a word.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side, 16:10
The parking lots are completely full. On the side of the road the cars are double-parked. People return from work and go home. It is crowded, chaotic, and not safe. On the way to the next checkpoint, we see that also on the side of the bridge opposite Zabdey, there are cars parked on both sides.
Ya’bed – Mevo Dotan Checkpoint, 16:40
The checkpoint has been built up. Around the guard tower there is a new white building (See photo). The checkpoint is manned. The traffic at present is in the direction of Ya’bed and Jenin. They are returning from work. Cars are stopped and checked quickly, but in any case, a line of 10 cars is created.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, 17:00
We go up to the upper parking lot of the checkpoint (the seamline zone) and our car is inspected. The soldier tells us that he admires and respects us and that we should continue to do what we think is right. Very nice and surprising. Many workers return from work at this hour. Only one in four permit inspection machines is working. It is lucky that many of those passing through don’t need to be inspected. Even so a crowded line is created beside us. We tell the security guard at the terminal that it is very crowded next to the one machine. He answers, “It’s OK. What works, works, and what does not work, doesn’t.” In the upper parking lot, a young man from Ya’bed stops us. He is married to a woman from West Barta’a (Israeli citizen) and the father of four daughters. He has a permit to work in Israel but he doesn’t have a permit for beyond Barta’a Checkpoint, something that makes a visit to his wife and daughters on Saturdays impossible. We did not know how to help him.
Tura-Shaked Checkpoint, 17:45
Single vehicles and several people pass through to the seamline zone.
18:00 – On our way home an elderly woman signals us to stop. We think that she wants a ride, but no, she lives nearby. The woman harvested wild fennel and gives us a refreshing, aromatic wreath. We thank her happily and travel home.
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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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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