Jalama, Reihan, Shaked, Tue 26.5.09, Afternoon
Observers: Hasida S., Bracha B.A. (Reporting & Translating)
We drove Aya another cancer patient and their mothers from Rambam Hospital to the Jalameh crossing.
Jalameh 14:50
Drivers waiting in the parking lot on the Israeli side claimed that it took an hour to get through the crossing, and that it took two hours to take a bag of food to someone. However, people we met outside the terminal said it had taken them a half hour. It appears that some of these time claims are exaggerated: when one is forced to waste time uselessly, every minute must seem an eternity.
There are about 20 people exiting and entering the terminal. A man struggles to maneuver large packages into one cell of the turnstile. Palestinian village women walk through with large bundles balanced on their heads. Several Israeli Arab women from Ibitin explained that they had gone to Jenin for the day to visit and shop, but that because of the long time spent getting through the crossing it was “not worthwhile.” They emphasized that at home residents of Ibtin and the neighboring town of Rechasim “You can’t tell who’s Jewish and who’s an Arab. We all get along.”
Israeli Arabs can go to the West Bank every day except Saturdays without a permit, but it takes a long time to get through. Another man asks to speak to us and complains bitterly when we stop to hear him,” We’re treated badly. We’re humiliated, cursed…If they don’t want us to go through, than let them close the crossing and be done with it.” He drives away in a shining new Mazda. He is not used to such humiliation. Others, regrettably, are and do not complain.
We left at 3:10.
Shaked Tura 16:40
There were three cars waiting to be checked and four soldiers doing nothing while people waited. We crossed the gate and approached a soldier to inquire why things were being held up. He had no answer and told us that he did not work there, and that the commander was not there. The sergeant came up and also said the commander was not there. Five minutes later the cars and passengers were still waiting. Finally two more soldiers arrived and cars going towards the West Bank and the seamline zone were quickly checked (due to our presence?) All the soldiers were busy checking the vehicles when we left at 17:05.
17:15 Reihan Barta’a Checkpoint
Going down into the sleeve we saw Palestinian workers busy weeding next to the fence. How ironic that they must be the ones to maintain the checkpoint area! What’s worse? Building houses in the settlements? Building the separation fence? When we reach the entrance to the terminal there are about 50 workers waiting to enter! They are angry and ask us to call and tell them to open another window. I go to the entrance and try and attract the attention of one of the staff while Hasida calls the checkpoint commander. Finally the turnstile starts moving. It opens for about 10 seconds every 2 minutes or so and a dozen people quickly pass through to wait in line at the one open window. I call “excuse me” to a staff member standing on the other side of the gate, but he ignores me and walks away. Finally the entire group of workers is all inside, but more are coming.
17:35 We drove through the checkpoint to the lower parking lot. A car was being held up. The driver was a lawyer who was bringing a man with a back injury and another person accompanying him. About 20 minutes later the injured man was transferred through the vehicle checkpoint to a Palestinian car, the lawyer returned in his car to the seamline zone, and the man accompanying him was admitted through the terminal. They left shortly before 18:00. All the workers we had seen above came through in about 8 minutes.
As we left we encountered a woman sitting on a bench opposite the vehicle inspection shed. She said she had been there for an hour, and added “I’ve got a baby at home.” Again, when your time is wasted, it seems endless.
We left at 18:10.
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)
Mar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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