Farmer near the Tora checkpoint: "74 years old and still working hard"
14:30 – Junction of East Barta’a
Across from the breach in the separation fence, an urban market of fruits and toys developed, at which all the residents of the area, Jews and Arabs, join in.
We passed Barta’a Checkpoint that was crowded with vehicles and from there we continued on to Harish Checkpoint. Next to Emricha Junction, a combine of grains stood on the road, facing west, as three soldiers stand around it. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at the driver. We stopped and approached. The combine belongs to the Arab factory on the road from Jenin to Tulkarm. We wondered why the soldiers were stopping it and not the police. The soldiers took the driver’s identity card to inspect it. They delayed him for about an hour and then let him go. That’s the Occupation; soldiers, instead of the police, are busy with citizens.
15:45 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
Workers arrive at the checkpoint on their way home. H., a young man, approaches and asks for help with obtaining and or a renewal of a permit to enter Israel.
16:10 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
As always, we hear complaints about delays of up to 40 minutes in crossing. A soldier explains that the delays follow inspection of those who cross the checkpoint: are they immunized against Corona or not. An older man (“I am 74 years old and work hard; what can you do?”), his wife and son plant tobacco by hand in the nearby field and water from pails, complaining about the hard work.
16:35 – We leave Tura.
We stop at Hirbat al- Ra’adiya. We saw many solar panels on all the roofs of the houses. We greeted our friends, the owners of the grocery. It happens that their children, who live in Ramallah, in Nablus, and in London, along with their neighbor’s son—5 houses in all—took out a large loan from the bank, and with it financed the solar panels. Now they’re waiting for batteries from Dubai to shut down the electricity generated by day, for use at night. We were delighted and we toasted with a cup of tea in honor of the occasion.
17:30 – We ended our shift and hurried 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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