Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Sun 27.3.11, Afternoon
Translated by Dvora K.
15:00 Shaked – Tura
The CP is almost empty. A soldier is talking on the phone and he waves a greeting to us. There is a thin stream of people and cars going through. Still, there is a change in the backdrop: A concrete hut in the shape of a three-sided rectangle from which an armed soldier oversees the CP, was raised on two concrete blocks. Now the observtion post is higher and wider than before. The driver of a Transit tells us that he was not allowed to transport a washing machine. Now he is being called on to translate a discussion which is going on between the soldiers and a member of his family. The pass of his relative's wife is no longer valid. At the DCO she was told to bring the old permit, but it was taken from her by the soldiers at the CP and they refuse to return it to her. A soldier who was kind enough to talk to us said that she would not have any problem. The details written on her former permit will be found in the computer when she presents her ID card at the DCO.
15:55 Mevo Dothan
There are cars waiting on both sides of the CP. We ask the soldiers why they have to wait and they immediately let them through. After a few minutes, three soldiers walk off in the direction of Mevo Dothan and after that into the olive grove south of the CP. We approach the center of the CP. A soldier who is at the top of the pillbox explains to us that the soldiers which we saw have gone out on a patrol and the drivers know that they are now free to go through. But they are still hesitant. We signal to them that they are free to go through.
At 16:30, after we had walked around a bit in the settlement Mevo Dothan, we returned to the CP and discovered that the drivers are confused. There is a military jeep on the other side and they do not know if they are allowed to go through; they are waiting for a signal. We advise them to go through and they do so. Five minutes later, seven soldiers arrive. There are five cars on each side of the CP. "Should I begin to let them through?" "Don't take anything for granted!" "Where did you come from? From Tel Menashe? Did you work there? Ok" The driver of a truck loaded with sacks of cement on the way to the West Bank — presents his papers to the soldier and goes through.
17:00 Reihan / Barta'a
The southern parking lot (the Palestinian lot) is completely full. At the northern entrance to the terminal, two windows are manned for the workers who are returning to the West Bank from the seamline zone. The passage is quick and the bench for the illegal sojourners is now empty.
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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