Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan
15:00 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
One car passed through to the West Bank. A young man waited in the shed for a car that arrived immediately. Among those passing through there is a group of young women with their babies. A large car picks up everyone in the group.
15:20 – We pass by Barta’a Checkpoint. Many workers arrive at this hour. Some trucks enter the inspection area above the vehicle checkpoint. The parking lots and the roadside are filled with cars. Some people kneel to pray between the cars.
15:30 – We stop at the grocery store belonging to our friend, F. She is not in the store; in her place is one of her daughters. We buy a popsicle (artik in Hebrew) for a shekel.
15:50 – Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint
A military vehicle is parked on the “red side” (the Palestinian side, Area A) of the checkpoint, but it doesn’t disturb the traffic.
16:10 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, Seamline Zone side
We drive, obviously, on the Israeli road in order to pass the vehicle checkpoint at the Seamline Zone. The inspector at the booth asks what we think of the checkpoint. We have known him for years, we tell him. (Indeed, for too many years. It would be interesting to know how many more years the checkpoint and everything it represents will be there.). He inspects our trunk, accompanied by a security guard. They wish us a happy holiday.
Workers continue to arrive on their way home. Our guest, who already come to the checkpoint with us many times, is shocked by the sight of those who march down the sleeve. We try to clarify the arrangements for passage during the week-long Passover holiday. One of the Palestinian drivers says that on Sunday (the first day of the holiday), the checkpoint will open at 07:00, as on Saturdays. The rest of the week it will function normally. Hannah B. tried to find out this morning via the Liaison and Coordination Administration (Matak) but no one knew the answer.
We travel on Highway 611, which leads to East Barta’a and Harish, and continue in the direction of the separation fence. We don’t see any people crossing through breaches in the fence today, nor do we see people who have already passed through and wait on the road for rides. The road that goes up to the old Barta’a Checkpoint is empty of cars and people.
We stop at the small shuk that has opened at the entrance to East Barta’a. We buy some vegetables and fruits and go 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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