Northern Checkpoints: Routine Activity in the Breaches
There was a police roadblock near Megiddo Junction, which obviously caused congestion on Route 65.
06:00 Barta’a Checkpoint and Route 611
We drove the long way round, passing West Barta’a (Israeli) and East Barta’a (Palestinian) to see if there was any police activity there. Happily, we didn’t see any police and Barta’a was sleepy at that time of the morning. A few Palestinian workers were waiting for transport on the main road of East Barta’a, and a coffee stand, falafel stand and pizzeria were already open for them. We continued to Harish and didn’t see any police there either.
There were heaps of earth mounds all along Route 611, which the settlers had piled up so that the vehicles waiting for workers who cross over through breaches in the fence (see reports from March 21 and 22) wouldn’t be able to park. Having no choice, the cars were parked dangerously on the side of the road. Workers continued to arrive, as they do every morning, through the breach in the fence below Luxor Village and through the security road. Our law-abiding driver did not stop there and I did not have time to take pictures from a moving car.
06:30 Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, Seamline Zone side
There’s not much traffic, particularly at this hour. There are times when there isn’t anyone at all in the lengthy covered walkway (the sleeve) leading from the parking lot to the checkpoint. One of the people sitting next to the eatery in the sleeve tells me that “the checkpoint is good, may it continue insh’Allah.” I say it would be better without a checkpoint. He laughs and thanks me for what we do. Meanwhile Pierre asks one of the drivers what happened to the cars that were impounded by the Border Police and the Military Police on Route 611 (see report from March 22). The driver says that the cars were photographed when they were parked there and when they reached the Barta’a checkpoint they were identified and sent to park in a military parking lot. Later a lawyer charged NIS 500-1,000 for the release of each of them (report from March 22).
06:45 Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
The gates of the checkpoint are still locked, but for the moment no one is crossing via the nearby breach in the fence. Two workers who have crossed are waiting for a ride to a carpentry shop in the Shahak Industrial Park. One car is already waiting for workers at the checkpoint, which is scheduled to open at 07:00.
We telephoned M, the tractor driver. The army has to open the Anin checkpoint for him and his son (pedestrians cross through the nearby breach in the fence). This morning, M and his son had gone to work and were waiting by the gate of the checkpoint.
07:00 Anin Checkpoint
The army got there before us, and M and his son and the tractor had already gone through. M. stopped near us and after a brief chat, continued on his way to Umm El Fahm. We passed him and continued to Haifa. We were pleased to discover that the roadblock on Route 65 was no longer there.
'Anin checkpoint (214)
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'Anin checkpoint (214)
'Anin checkpoint is located on the Separation Fence east of the Israeli community Mei Ami and close to the village of Anin in the West Bank. It is opened twice a week, morning and afternoon, on days with shorter light time, for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence it became difficult to cultivate their land. Transit permits are only issued to those who can produce ownership documents for their caged-in land, and sometimes only to the head of the family or his widow, eldest son, and children. Sometimes the inheritors lose their right to tend to the family’s land. The permits are eked out and are re-issued only with difficulty. 55-year-old persons may cross the checkpoint (into Israel) without special permits. During the olive harvest season (about one month around October) the checkpoint is open daily and more transit permits are issued. Names of persons eligible to cross are held in the soldiers’ computers. In July 2007, a sweeping instruction was issued, stating that whoever does not return to the village through this checkpoint in the afternoon will be stripped of his transit permit when he shows up there next time. Since 2019, the checkpoint has not been allways locked with the seam-line zone gate (1 of 3 gates), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.
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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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