Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan, Sun 24.3.13, Afternoon
Translation: Bracha B.A.
15:00-17:20
Shaked – Tura Checkpoint, 15:00
A taxi comes to the seamline zone and an elderly man with a donkey and wagon passes through the checkpoint. He explains to the soldiers that he will tie the donkey on the other side and come back to be checked. We hear "No, No!" followed by a short conversation and finally, "All right." There is a small amount of traffic in both directions.
Mavo Dotan – Yaabed Checkpoint, 16:00
Cars are waiting on both sides of the checkpoint. A soldier approaches us and asks what we are doing. We explain that we have come to observe. He asks: "To observe what?" We answer that we want to observe what is going on at the checkpoint. The soldier turns to his comrade and asks: "Did you hear? They've come to see what there is to see here."
Actually, there was something to see. North of the checkpoint a new 10-meter dirt road has been paved. An army jeep bypassed the checkpoint along the road. Concrete blocks have been put up and painted white, and the white paint is splattered along the greenery at the side of the road. Cars going from Area C to Area A pass through without delay, while those going the other way are briefly checked, with an occasional short conversation or a brief peek inside, and one quick check of the trunk.
16:10 – 6 cars are waiting on each side. A young man who offered us help is checked despite the fact that he is headed towards Area A.
16:30 – 12 cars are headed towards Area A, but when they are given the signal they drive through without being stopped.
16:40 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint
11 trucks are waiting on the road waiting to be checked tomorrow morning. The parking lot on the
Palestinian side is completely full. Grou8ps of workers are descending to the terminal and passing through quickly. Those who work in Israel will finish work tomorrow at 14:00 and the day off will be deducted from their vacation days. We asked them if they had received a gift for the holiday. They are somewhat surprised and say no, but probably they will receive a gift tomorrow. Someone arrives with a large used toy car. The large gate on the right opens for him and he passes through [instead of going through the turnstile] without any problem. Another man who arrives with a suitcase without a permit does not appear worried, and disappears within a few minutes.
When we asked if the checkpoint would be closed over the holiday we were reminded that Reihan Barta'a checkpoint is open all the time and never closes.
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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