Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Sun 8.1.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
Tura (Shaked) checkpoint 07:05-07:35
The checkpoint's gates are open and traffic flows. People aren’t held up at the turnstile on the Tura side, and there's no line of cars waiting to enter Palestinian Authority territory. The banker arrives at the checkpoint from his village, on foot. He's bought a new car but doesn’t yet have a permit to enter and leave from Tura, only from Barta’a. So he leaves the car at Tura and walks home and to the checkpoint.
Pupils crossing through the checkpoint
A few children aged about nine arrive on foot from nearby Daher al-Malk. The school transport arrives at the same time with about 15 children, in kindergarten and the lower grades. They leave the vehicle and run happily toward the checkpoint, opening their schoolbags for the female soldier to inspect (she’s armed but her weapon isn’t cocked; a soldier nearby guards her, also armed but not pointing his gun at the children). She peeks into the bags; the children run quickly to the Tura exit gate. At the same time Y., the driver, leaves his vehicle outside the gate, walks to the inspection building, returns to the vehicle, and drives toward the soldiers, who open the doors and peek in. He then exits the checkpoint toward Tura and picks up any children who need a ride. Some of them walk on their own to the village school.
Barta’a (Reihan) checkpoint 07:45-8:20
The parking lot is almost full but no one is double-parked yet. The new “kiosk” stands next to the prayer corner; a friendly guy offers his wares: coffee, tea, cigarettes and sweets.
We left a letter with him, from Chana to someone from Yabed village, explaining what he must do to obtain a permit to work in Israel. After some misunderstanding (T., wearing a red keffiyeh, offered to take the letter to Yabed for NIS 50, but the owner of the kiosk eventually understood that the person would come pick it up from him and everything was arranged).
A pickup truck loaded with merchandise waited to be called for document inspection. He’s the only one for now, and seems to be waiting until more vehicles arrive. The first wave of merchandise inspections apparently hasn’t been completed yet (the inspection includes unloading all the merchandise wrapped in plastic, inspecting all the items, putting them back into the plastic wrapping and leaving. The entire procedure, involving Palestinian porters and inspectors who are apparently Israelis, takes place behind closed doors and lasts about two hours).
Mevo Dothan checkpoint 08:30-08:40
We left a bag containing women’s clothing in the village (with a woman who wanted a ride to Jenin but then realized that we weren’t going there). We didn’t have any children’s clothing.
At the Dothan checkpoint, as usual, the soldiers saw us from afar and approached to warn us not to cross into Area A. The soldiers are apparently an ultra-Orthodox Nahal unit. A long line of vehicles is visible coming from Jenin, and another line has already formed on our side. Although vehicles going to Jenin must cross “wahad-wahad” (one-by-one), they’re not inspected. Vehicles coming from Jenin have only their documents inspected, because the road doesn’t lead to Israel but to other Palestinian villages.
We understood that things would go faster if we left, so we did. Later, in Barta’a (where we went to bring warm clothing to our friend W., whom we’ve known since he was a youth), we heard that yesterday ( On Saturday? The ultra-Orthodox Nahal unit?) there was a long line and soldiers conducted a very slow, careful inspection, and it was hard.
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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