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

Observers: Ruti T. and Roni S. (reporting). Marcia L., Translation
Jan-28-2018
| Morning

 

This report seems to be describing calm situations at the checkpoints, but then it doesn’t report on all the people who have been prevented from passing through, whose land has been stolen from them and who must pass through the checkpoint in order to arrive at school or their places of work.

06:00 –Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint

Many workers have already passed through the checkpoint and are waiting for transportation, and many cars are waiting for workers. We go down to the entrance of the terminal on the Palestinian side. The Palestinian attendant shows us where to park so that we won’t get a ticket from the police.

There is order; there is no line and workers who arrive enter immediately, despite the fact that only one turnstile works and the parking lot is crowded because of construction. When someone arrives, going in the opposite direction, towards the West Bank, they make space for him and he doesn’t have to wait.

06:15 – A short line forms but quickly disappears.

06:30 –Tura-Shaked Checkpoint

The soldiers are already in place but no people are passing through yet.  At 06:30 the first person passes, reporting that there is no pressure on the other side.

A thin line of pedestrians and cars passes from the Palestinian side, inside the Seamline Zone.They greet us and hurry on to work. 

We were told that some people are waiting to renew their permits and therefore fewer people pass through the checkpoint today.

07:15 – The students begin to arrive. Cars enter and leave but there is no pressure, neither on the Palestinian side nor on the side of the Seamline Zone.

08:00 – Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint

It appears deserted. A soldier emerges from his post and reminds us that it is forbidden for us to proceed in the direction of Jenin.

08:30 – We return to Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint. It appears all the workers have passed through and traveled to their places of work.  Only one lone man marches down the sleeve (the enclosed wire fence leading to and from the terminal).

  • 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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