Jalama, Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Sun 20.3.11, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
Mavo Dothan checkpoint 06:00
The checkpoint isn’t manned. Little traffic
Reihan checkpoint 06:10 – 06:45
Some of the seamstresses (who live on the West Bank and work in eastern Barta’a) were outside the terminal when we arrived. One complained that they asked her to unzip her jacket; she was uncomfortable because she had on a short-sleeved blouse. We went down to the lower parking lot (the Palestinian lot). People arriving entered immediately; the revolving gate stopped after five went in. People go in “five at a time,” as usual. We were told that everything was going smoothly inside the terminal. But someone noted that sometimes people whose clothes are wet (from rain, for example) are inspected in a room off to the side. We timed two people – it took them about 10 minutes to go through. Vehicles aren’t much delayed either. But there are still people on foot waiting for the cars in which they arrived. We noticed, not for the first time, that there are Palestinians crossing from the seam zone to the West Bank who only swipe a magnetic card near the vehicle checkpoint, and others who have to walk through the fenced corridor to be inspected inside the terminal. The distinction isn’t clear to us.
Since this checkpoint isn’t the final one before entering Israel, the curfew isn’t felt here at all.
Shaked checkpoint 07:00 – 0:45
The checkpoint is open, a few cars cross with the usual procedure: a car approaches the concrete barrier, the driver gets out and goes to be inspected inside, returns putting his belt back on, and only then is the car inspected and he crosses. The little children open their satchels, the soldiers glance inside and they cross. We saw the same procedure with an older pupil. Some of the students entered the inspection building. The old man on the white donkey crossed, wearing dark glasses. The flocks of sheep must have sufficient pasture on the West Bank side.
About 20 people waited by the revolving gate on the Tura side. We timed how long it took a man and a woman to go through – a minute or two, including the inspection room. Two of the women who came through waited for the inspection of the car in which they’d continue.
Jalama checkpoint 08:30 – 09:00
At Jalama, the curfew is in effect. No one can enter Israel. We came to get Aya and her mother but we weren’t allowed to cross. It turned out they had a permit that expired yesterday, and the new permit is valid starting tomorrow (!). Aya, who’s four years old, goes to Rambam hospital 4-5 times a week for dialysis, and they know her at the checkpoint. But the computer says she doesn’t have a permit. We got angry. Yuval Roth (director of the organization Baderekh LeHakhlama, which transports Palestinian patients to Israeli hospitals) called the DCO, Ruthie called the DCO – they’ll look into it. Nissim, n charge of the checkpoint’s operation, also called the DCO. Aya and her mother received a temporary, one-time permit on the spot, and we took them to Rambam hospital.
We also heard from Nissim that no one crosses during curfew, but humanitarian cases are sent to the Reihan checkpoint. Rules are rules! And what if someone in need of urgent care comes to this checkpoint, where they usually cross, or they live nearby? Let them pay for a taxi to make a detour to Reihan, which isn’t considered an entry checkpoint to Israel. It’s easy to make someone go out of their way, make them waste time and money, in order to avoid instituting a special procedure for humanitarian cases.
On the other hand, Israeli Arabs are allowed to enter the West Bank, but only by car. A few women who tried to cross through the terminal were sent to find a taxi or someone with a car who could take them in.
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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Jalama
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North of Jenin, on the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank. A big terminal for the passage of Palestinians with permits allowing entrance into Israel and goods into Israel operates there. In the course of 2009 the terminal was opened for the passage of Israeli Arabic citizens into the West Bank. Since October 2009 they may pass in their cars.
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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)
Ruti TuvalMar-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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