Northern checkpoints: Palestinians rush home to break the Ramadan fast
Palestinians were crossing quickly at the end of the day of fasting
15:00 – We drove past A’anin agricultural checkpoint and met workers who were returning from work and going down to the gate of the checkpoint. They reported that the checkpoint had opened late at 07:00 and that many workers and three tractors had crossed. They were hoping that the checkpoint would open at 15:45 so that they could return home quickly in order to break their fast. One man who was a resident of A’anin with a work permit that was not an agricultural permit was forced to go all the way to Reihan – Barta’a checkpoint to return home, which was much farther away and forced him to return home much later...
On our way to Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint we passed many transport vehicles bringing workers back to the checkpoint. During Ramadan people end their work day and return to the West Bank much earlier..
There were hundreds of workers walking down the sleeve at the checkpoint but there was no delay because people were crossing without being checked. Many men, women, and children were returning from Jenin to East Barta’a through the covered sleeve. . We also noticed that Israeli Arab students from Wadi Eron are now able to cross here, which they could not do during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Israeli Arabs were crossing with their cars through the vehicle checkpoint to celebrate Ramadan in the West bank. On the way back they will have to enter Israel through the Jalameh Checkpoint which is farther away. All Israeli and Palestinian cars were undergoing a security check.
At Tura Shaked Checkpoint workers were returning from work in Israel and the seamline zone. People were crossing quickly. A family who were celebrating crossed with the father and one child in the car, while the mother and baby crossed through the inspection booth on foot. Three young men told us that since the terrorist attacks they have to undergo a more lengthy check. They are forced to empty their pockets and are asked a lot of questions.
Soldiers are stationed in tents near all the breaches in the fence day and night. There are also soldiers at A’anin Checkpoint and Tura 24 hours a day.
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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