Mahsom Yawabed: the beautiful view of the occupied land
15:00 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
One person waits in the shabby, filthy shed with a bench that has no place to sit. J. is an engineer and a resident of Tura, age 59, who retired early. Presently, he has a special sewing shop. He is waiting for a client who will arrange inflatable installations to rent out for various occasions. He speaks Hebrew and English and is allowed to pass through the checkpoint because he has an olive grove near the army camp. At Barta’a Checkpoint he is allowed to cross because of his age. He complains that the camp’s sewer spills over onto his grove and pollutes it. He tells us that his wife has not received an agricultural permit for the last two years because of the policy change and that the Palestinian National Council in Jenin isn’t helping. Three of his children are banned by the General Security Service, and according to him, he doesn’t know why. We gave him the phone number of the center for individual protection (for the problem of an agricultural permit for his wife) and Sylvia’s notes (for the problem of his banned children). We wish him good luck. In the meantime, the client arrives to pick him up. A group of women and children arrive at the shed dressed for a festival. They wait for a vehicle to pick them up and take them to the Seamline Zone.
15:40 – In a failed attempt to deal with the sewer problem and the filth around the checkpoint, we arrive at the center that serves the settlements nearby. There is a police station, a fire station, a Magen David Adom center, and the office of the deputy head of the Shomron Regional Council. A polite policeman referred us to the office mentioned above, which was closed at that hour.
16:10 – The road meant for Israelis at Barta’a Checkpoint is blocked because of some kind of work. We travel on the road meant for Palestinians. At this hour, many people return from their work in Israel and the Seamline Zone. We pass through the Checkpoint. The parking lots are still full.
16:20 – Hermesh Checkpoint
The checkpoint is wide open as usual lately.
On our way to the Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint, we go up a hill whose high point is a pillbox, near the T junction on the road that rises from Highway 596, which then rises from Barta’a Checkpoint. The scene overlooks Amricha village, the town of Ya’bed ,and the beautiful surrounding area.
16:40 – Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint
A soldier observes from a balcony at the top of the guard tower at the checkpoint but does not interrupt the traffic. A vehicle from Nahal patrol stops next to us. The soldiers, with guns drawn, but who were courteous, worried about our safety and reminded us that it is forbidden to pass over to an area beyond the checkpoint. On our way to the car, a police car stopped, and two policemen got out. Immediately a long line of cars and trucks formed. We didn’t see that they stopped any car for inspection; perhaps just their presence caused the slowdown and even stopped the traffic movement.
17:10 Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side
Workers continue to return from their jobs, most of them carrying blue lunch boxes in their hands. The parking lot begins to empty, and it is possible to enter. The “coffee” children” sell coffee from a thermos and serve it in paper cups. The peanut vendor is at his counter. We asked why he was absent a while ago, and he answered that he had participated in a funeral. The tamarind at the buffet was delicious as always.
17:30 – At the vehicle inspection checkpoint they stopped us to check our identification, which took a little time. We treated ourselves to coffee and cake in Harish, which continues to be built and become occupied before our eyes.
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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Hermesh
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Hermesh
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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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