Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Sat 8.1.11, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
06:55 Reihan Checkpoint 
The upper parking lot is filled with transits and we drove down to the lower parking lot.
At 07:00 the announcement is made that the checkpoint is now open and the crossing begins. We counted 75 people waiting at the gate to enter the terminal. They enter in groups of five without incident. A woman arrives alone and the men clear the way for her. After five minutes everyone is inside and the first people come out the other side. The path to the restrooms is paved with tiles alternating tan and brown. We cannot help noticing the obsession of the people in charge of the checkpoint.
We continue eastward to Emricha to give people used clothing and blankets.
07:25 Mevo Dotan Checkpoint
The three soldiers at the checkpoint offer us cake and we decline. They warn us against the speeding cars passing by. We notice the sign in the mud warning people of entry into Area A. The town of Yaabed appears sparkling in the early morning light. The cars that arrive pass without being detained.
07:35 We left the checkpoint and drove to the settlement of Hermesh. Many of the houses are abandoned and are in the last stages of construction and are filled with bird droppings and graffiti.
08:05 Reihan Checkpoint
The lower parking lot is full and there are transits waiting in the upper parking lot. A young woman, a student from Um Al Fahem, tells us about the lack of sensitivity displayed by the inspectors towards everyone. She said that her laptop had almost fallen off the conveyer belt when she was not near it. There are a few pedestrians in the sleeve and two windows are open in the terminal.
We left at 08:35.
There are relatively few people as opposed to other Saturdays.
08:45 Shaked Checkpoint
For the first time we see the concrete blocks that drivers encounter when approaching the checkpoint. A man tells us that there are more delays now. There are seven soldiers at the checkpoint. They are joined by another military vehicle bringing food.
A soldier comes up to us and tells us that they are closing and we should leave. Another soldier shouts to him that this is the last gate to be closed. He says the gates close at 09:00. We thought they close at 10:00. Someone else arrives at a run and manages to get through before the gates are closed and locked. At 08:57 the army car leaves and at 09:00 the gates at Tura are locked.
We left at 09:00.
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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