North: It is difficult to describe the amount of crowding and helplessness of someone who requests to be extricated from there
In all, we were in Area C and the Seamline Zone from 15:00 until 17:00.
As we usually do, we passed by noisy Barta’a Checkpoint, visited for a short time at Harmish Checkpoint and Ya’bed Checkpoint, where we were free to pass through. This time, a few settlers from Mevo Dotan politely suggested their help to us and we politely declined.
We returned to Barta’a Checkpoint. It is difficult to describe and even to photograph, the amount of crowding and of the helplessness of someone who requests to be extricated from there. Yelling and honking appears to help somewhat. No one turned to us for help, as if everyone already knew how that works.
At Tura Checkpoint we met a resident from Anin, who has to pass through from there, travel around for about an hour in order to return to his village, and costs him 10 shekel. As remembered, next to Anin, there is an agricultural checkpoint that is open twice a week, but the man is prohibited from going through there. For what reason?
Women dressed elegantly and their ornately dressed little girls, enter the sleeve of the checkpoint (the enclosed entrance to the terminal) on their way to a wedding somewhere beyond the checkpoint.
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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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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