Northern Checkpoint: Tura – Everyone knows that a horse cannot cross at the checkpoint
16.35 – 15.25
Tura – Shaked Checkpoint 15:25 – How can a horse cross without a permit?
This “fabric of life” checkpoint is for Palestinian school pupils to cross to their school in the West Bank and for residents of the seamline zone who wish to take advantage of services of the Palestinian Authority such as shopping in Jenin. During our 45-minute shift here approximately 20 cars crossed in both directions. People’s permits are checked in the inspection booth for those coming to the seamline zone from the West Bank. This area is between the green line and the separation fence and there are Palestinian villages there who are cut off from the West Bank. These people cross without problems. Families with children were returning to their villages in the seamline zone from shopping in Jenin. One woman from Um A-Reihan who was returning from a visit to her daughter told us that they are not allowed to bring food across the checkpoint that is enough for a large family. According to the checkpoint authorities this is considered a “commercial amount” that requires special permits. In any case, commercial goods can only be brought across at Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint that is some distance away.
A resident of Tura told us that this week he asked to cross to his fields located in the seamline zone on the other side of the separation fence with a 100-liter spray tank and a horse. However, as everyone knows, the horse has no permit to cross! After about two hours of discussion the man was finally allowed to bring the horse across.
On the way to Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint we noticed extensive construction near the settlement of Reihan and newly paved roads with new green road signs.
Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint 16:10 – The routine of the occupation has the aroma of freshly baked cakes.
Large groups of workers, including some who did not leave from here in the morning, are returning from work. Many work in Israel building the new city of Harish. The aroma of Thursday’s cakes is present as people descend the sleeve to the terminal and people were stopping to buy cookies for Friday. Many men and women students were returning from the universities in Nablus and Jenin for the weekend. There is no avoiding the feeling that the seamline zone is already annexed by Israel and everyone is trying to live with this new reality.
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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