Barta’a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya’bed-Dotan, Thu 10.10.13, Morning
06:00 (Palestine Time 0500) A’anin checkpoint.
The checkpoint open according to Israel time. People begin going through only at 06:20 even though the soldiers arrived on time – they forgot the key to the seam zone gate. That’s not the first time this has happened, and probably won’t be the last.
About 70 people crossed this morning; rumor has it that 1000 agricultural permits have been issued. Not everyone crossing today was on their way to the fields. The olive harvest begins next week; then we’ll see many more people at the checkpoint.
Ahmad Y. goes through on foot. His tractor died but that doesn’t keep him from his large, well-tended olive grove. He says that a DCO officer spitefully prevents him from going through the Tura-Shaked checkpoint (on foot or with a tractor) which is open every day so he can reach his land trapped in the seam zone every day. He knows of another farmer from A’anin who’d received this desireable permit. Fifteen minutes later Ahmad returns, very upset: there’s clear evidence that olives have been stolen from his grove! If I could come daily, no one would have dared steal from me!, he says. Cows from Ein Sahala (in Israel) used to wander around his grove, damaging the trees with no one to stop them. He’s sure the thieves are his compatriots; he guesses they came from Umm el Fahm.
Another man says, angrily, upset, that his 25 year old son was suddenly not allowed to go through the checkpoint; no one knows why. I need him for the harvest, he complains. Now he won’t get a crossing permit.
07:10 Tura-Shaked checkpoint (Photo: Congestion at the Tura checkpoint)
We can’t get used to how many completely unnecessary installations and fences and signs fill the area of this small checkpoint. It resembles a crowded storeroom containing a mishmash of vehicle and pedestrian signposts, evidence of waste and stupidity. Pupils and teachers haven’t yet arrived; they have another hour. Most people going through are on their way to work. The crossing operates fluidly; we heard no complaints.
08:15 Yabed-Dothan checkpoint (Photo: A metal barrier blocks a side road to Yabed, punishment for stone-throwing)
No soldiers, traffic flows freely in both directions – despite reports that soldiers at the checkpoint sometimes turn back vehicles for various reasons. The side road to Yabed is blocked by a formidable iron barrier.
08:40 Barta’a-Reihan checkpoint
A line of 14 commercial vehicles carrying agricultural produce and other items waits to be inspected and cross to Barta’a.
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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