Northern Checkpoints: Autumn is approaching, but no sign of the end of the occupation
15:15 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
As usual, it is very quiet here and the checkpoint is almost empty and very dirty. A few cars crossed to the West Bank. A resident of Um Reihan was waiting for his daughter who works as a secretary in Jenin. The man, who was rather elderly, was dressed in a gleaming white Jalabiyyeh. HE has just returned from a stay in Saudi Arabia where he had been working. His son, who is married and has a baby, is still their working as an engineer.
A military police car drives quickly into the checkpoint with its siren sounding loudly. Its passengers shouted something like: “What are you doing here?” at us.
We drove past Barta’a Checkpoint. The parking lot and sides of the road were filled with cars. We haven’t seen anything like this for a long time. We continued on to Hermesh Checkpoint, which was not manned. We continued to F.’s grocery store in Emricha where we were warmly received. The store is developing and they are now selling school supplies such as notebooks, paints, and school bags. One of the customers told us that he was forbidden from entering Israel and we gave him a card with Sylvia’s contact information and wished him luck.
Yaabed – Hermesh Checkpoint was also not manned and traffic was moving freely in both directions, except for the concrete roadblocks that still slowed it down.
We again note the gates that are closed blocking the road to Yaabed from Derech HaMelech to Jenin and the two sides of the “bridge” opposite Zbeida that are locked. The fact that the shortcuts are closed forces Palestinian drivers in the area to drive much farther.
16:15 – Barta’a – Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side
On Thursday afternoons many people are returning from work and going to their cars or transport vehicles. The Palestinian attendants are still there, but are not particularly busy. The sides of the road are emptying of cars and the parking lot is less crowded. Two prayer rugs were spread between the crossing shed in the parking lot and the restrooms. One person was praying. Some people were attempting to make a living here such as a boy selling coffee and people selling telephones, fruit, and beverages. Almost no one was going to the seamline zone at this hour and we saw almost no women.
16:45 – We returned to our car and decided to drive through the city of Harish to avoid the long line of cars that transport workers that were returning to Israel.
It was not too hot today. We saw squills in Wadi Ara and autumn is approaching, as well as the elections. There was, however, no sign of the end of the occupation. Brand new lampposts were standing alongside the road to the settlements of Mevo Dotan and Hermesh as is to proclaim: “We are here.” This was strengthened by the announcements for building and selling new houses in the settlement of Reihan in the seamline zone and Mevo Dotan which is on the other side of the separation barrier. This is not a good sign.
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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