Northern checkpoints: Barta`a: Just let us make a living
15.25. Hermesh checkpoint, where we started our watch
We noticed new lights on the Amriha-Hermesh route for 2 kilometers. There were no soldiers in the checkpoint and all was quiet. We went to visit the Beduin family Turkeman and to see if there is a road to the new settlement. The way is difficult, and our host tells us that in fact there is only one person living there, from Hermesh, who is setting up Hermesh B., which reminds us of Mevo Dothan B. which we discovered on Pesach. We were invited to a cup of tea and saw the ‘tractoron’ coming from Hermesh which rapidly passed the encampment. Our hosts complained that the youth deliberately disturbs them now and again with the dust and noise. The area where the encampment is located is called Parsim(?) and belongs to man from Jenin named Abdal Hadi. Apparently he owns a lot of land on tabu and the Turkeman family leases from him 500 dunam for sheep-rearing, for 8000 shekels a year. We asked about the new settlement established on the hill and were told that there is light building going on there, directed by the kibbutznik Yigal whom they know. We returned to Hermesh checkpoint and found 3 soldiers threatening a Palestinian at gunpoint. He raises his shirt for them. A barrier of spikes is spread on the road. Cars coming from area A pass freely to area C, but in the opposite direction there is a line of cars waiting. Altogether the situation is unusual for Hermesh checkpoint which is normally quiet.
16.30. Yabed-Dothan checkpoint.
A line of cars waits for checking and soldiers, with arms at the ready, supervise the traffic.
16.50. Barta’a- Rehan checkpoint.
A few workers make their way from the seamline zone to the West Bank. They say that there are many people who want to work but lately there has been little work. There are the usual tales of farmers who get passes to cross at checkpoints located far from their plots, and about “Rambo” (the nickname of the man who distributes permits) who creates many problems. “Just let us make a living,” they ask.
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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