Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Tue 23.2.10, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
06:55 – Shaked Tura Checkpoint
There are 12 students and three cars waiting on the road from the army base on the seamline side of the checkpoint. On the other side, next to the village of Tura, there are about 20 people waiting next to the turnstile. The first gate opens at 07:03 and four minutes later the inner gate opens.The soldiers open the inspection booth and immediately to towards what looks like a generator.
At 07:15 the young girl going to Hadassah Hospital passes through with her father without delay, and at 07:16 the principal of the school at Yaabed arrives at the checkpoint in his car, enters the inspection booth, and continues on his way at 07:18.
On the other hand the taxi with students is delayed until 07:35 when the last student came out of the inspection booth. Those standing next to the turnstile begin to pass through to the seamline zone at 07:20. The school children pass through quickly, but the cars and taxis are checked simultaneously on both sides of the concrete blocks and then have to back up, drive past the blocks, and continue on their way after being checked.
At 07:25 the van that drives the small children to school arrives. It appears that there is a warm relationship between them and the soldiers: greetings are exchanged, laughter, and pats on the back, and at 07:28 they continue on their way. Five men and a woman with a baby, all well-dressed, are waiting next to the inner gate. A soldier come out of the inspection booth and hands them certificates and they go through to the seamline zone. A young woman and two students pass through the checkpoint in the direction of the West Bank without being checked.
07:35 – There are four people next to the turnstile, two cars, passing through here and there. The checkpoint this morning appears to be cheerful and busy. Now things are calmed down. A soldier asks me to leave my position near the security road. "We're concerned about you."
08:10 – Mavo Dotan (Emricha)
We took a short tour of the settlement of Mevo Dotan after presenting our ID cards at the gate. Many of the houses are abandoned and the yards and public areas are neglected, but the view to the north is pretty. We then returned to the checkpoint which is manned by two soldiers. A driver passing through told us that he came by because we were there.
Usually the soldiers are scornful of people, eating and cracking sunflower seeds and making them wait for a quarter of an hour. It now appears that people pass through quickly and without delay until a strange situation arises: a driver waiting alone for a sign to drive forward towards the checkpoint. A soldier lights a cigarette and deliberately stalls until he lets the driver through. Here, too, we are told to keep back "for our own safety."
08:35 – Reihan-Barta'a Checkpoint
The lower parking lot is full. A., the driver, says, "That's it, I'm going home, there's no work. Things will be OK." At 08:37 a group of workers arrives, and one was seen coming out at 08:55. There are 10 cars waiting in line in front of the vehicle inspection facility. We are surprised at how crowded it is and a security guard tells us that the facility is full at the moment. A taxi is detained for 8 minutes, and a woman carrying a baby, with her head covered and only a slit for her eyes, passes through the checkpoint on foot, gets back into the taxi and leaves.
At 08:54 a line of 9 cars enters the inspection facility after 6 cars leave.
At 09:00 there are still people coming out of the terminal. One person is angry and says he does not understand why he was not permitted to bring frames for beehives. He had to send them back and was delayed at the checkpoint for an hour. Someone says that the workers in the checkpoint are slacking off and not doing their job.
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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