Northern Checkpoints: Blossoms and Occupation
06:35 – We passed next to the breach in the separation fence opposite the village of Luxor. The parking area around the village looks full. The transport vehicles that come to pick up the workers who have crossed the fence stand in perfect order of arrival on the sides of Road 611, just like in the parking area for Egged or Dan buses. Many workers who came by foot from the Palestinian parking lot at the Barta’a Checkpoint, marched to the side via the system of breaches in the fence to the next breach that will enable them to get on the vehicles that take them to work in Israel.
06:50 – Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint
We turned into the store next to the memorial to Moshe Tamam, because according to the soldiers, it is preferable not to park on the side of the narrow road and not at the intersection. Next to the monument, there is a flat, occupied area. When we turned around to face the checkpoint, our vehicle got stuck in a particularly muddy puddle, and we were stuck there for a full hour. Two soldiers from a Givati patrol, “War Section,” came down from their guard tower and promised to call a tow truck. In the meantime, they connected a hook to tow us out. The tow truck was not willing to come.
07:45 – A Palestinian car with an appropriate towing rope and three people who were on their way to work, pulled us out of the mud in five minutes. The driver said, “Allah sent us.”
07:50 – We continued on our way. At Amriha junction, a “War Section” vehicle was parked. We passed by Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint. The parking lot on the Palestinian side was not yet completely full. On the way to the vehicle inspection site, we counted 12 cars.
We continued to Tura-Shaked Checkpoint. A vehicle that was full of workers stopped us to tell us that life is beautiful. Truthfully, perhaps it was good for him and perhaps there is a hidden suggestion that “you will not break us,” especially after a night in which two Palestinians were killed by the IDF in the Jenin refugee camp.
The blossoming in the olive grove was amazing.
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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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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