Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan
5:50 AM Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian side
A huge crowd of people, sitting, kneeling, standing – waiting for their transport to work in the Seamline Zone and inside Israel. The vehicle checking post is open and we cross over to the Palestinian side without inspection. A Palestinian security guard forbids parking on the nearby roadside, and Tami drives all the way to the car park further uphill. Many workers arrive and cross immediately. No waiting line is formed. The car park intended for trucks with wares is full. On a small truck, wares wrapped in nylon are being loaded from a vehicle that is not allowed to cross into the Seamline Zone. An inhabitant of Dan village, a fluent Hebrew speaker, speaks of the “good old days” in the 1980s, when he worked in Haifa and the Galilee. He treats us to coffee and wishes us well in the Jewish holidays. Another asks for our help in taking him off the “blacklist” (of the entry permit lists of the Israeli police and Shabak) and we hand him a note with the relevant Machsomwatch member (Sylvia) for further information.
6:20 AM Ya’bedDotan Checkpoint
En route we see many vehicles parked on both sides of the blocked bridge opposite the village of Zabdah. The gate behind Emricha on the road to Jenin is locked as usual, denying entry to a shortcut to Yaabad.
At the checkpoint, cars cross unimpeded, except for a forced slowing down because the road is narrowed by the checkpoint compound. The deep ditches that angered the Palestinian drivers have been filled out and instead there are broad bumpers. Ragged Israeli flags decorate the site, symbol of Israeli sovereignty on the ground.
Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint, SeamlineZone side
Workers sit at the snack bar of an Israeli settler-colonist from Hermesh, others wait by the counter, having their coffee and pastry. 4-5 windows are active in the terminal, apparently the reason for the absence of waiting lines and quick crossing. On our way back to the car park we see that the snack bar is empty: the workers’ transports did arrive.
7:00 Toura Shaked Checkpoint
The soldiers are already in place, still getting organized, the checkpoint not yet open. People and cars wait on the West Bank side. A young schoolgirl waits at the entrance of the closed pedestrian ‘sleeve gate’.
7:10 A first woman crosses into the Seamline Zone. She opens the gate and the schoolgirl goes through. Only now we realize the gate was not locked. Too bad we didn’t check.
7:20 People and a few cars travel in both directions at a reasonable pace. A donkey and its owner go through in the vehicle lane. For them too the metal electric barrier is raised.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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
See all reports for this place-
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
-
Ya'bed-Dotan
See all reports for this place-
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)
-