Northern Checkpoints: Treacherous Tranquility
14:30 on Route 611
A teenage boy and a young child walk with confidence towards the breached system-road on their way to the West Bank.
We pass at the Barta’a-Rihan checkpoint, which is very busy. The landfill’s trash spilled on the southern slope of the Palestinia side’s parking lot sparkles in celestial trandescence.
14:45 Hermesh checkpoint
Although the checkpoint is no longer active, concrete barriers are still sitting on the road, restricting traffic to cars traveling in both directions. We visited a village of Palestinian farmers of Turkmen origin, called on Google Maps “Abu Kakus”. The sheep crowded around the water troughs and in the field a few crocuses and many daisies bloomed. Two new tractors are at work in the field and there is a general appearance of activity and expansion.
On the way to the Ya’bed-Dotan checkpoint, a stacked heap of stones that was somehow connected to the checkpoint on the road to Maoz Zvi (Mevo Dotan II) caught our attention. We went to look.
Next we stopped to see the remnants of the deadly incident that occurred last week (21.12) a few hours after our shift, near the second pillbox. In the incident, IDF soldiers thwarted a ramming attack, which ended in the death of the Palestinian driver, in car having caught fire.
15:15 There were many soldiers at the Ya’abad-Dotan checkpoint when we arrived, but they disappeared immediately. From the top of the pillbox they blared at us, using a speaker: “Hello, is everything okay?” And later: “Please, get back in the car, this is a very dangerous place.” We returned to the car. Traffic at the checkpoint flowed without delays. A scrap truck loaded from Area A (West Bank) turned at the junction in the direction of Mevo Dotan, possibly to the small Palestinian village at the foot of the settlement that’s known in Google Maps as “Jabal al-Aqra’a”.
At Barta’a-Reihan checkpoint, by the entry point for truck inspection stood people loaded with large packages in their arms. We passed without being questioned this time…
15:45 Tura-Shaked checkpoint
Cheerful voices of soldiers yowling like cats greeted us. Women and children arrived at the Seam Zone through the sleeve (a fenced-in pedestrian lane) and were picked up in cars that had been inspected at the checkpoint. Today is the last day of a two-week study vacation, perhaps in honor of this, families from both sides of the separation fence went on visits.
It was bright and cold, and paraphrasing the expression “treacherous sun” (much light but no warmth), Marina described the atmosphere here as “treacherous tranquility”.
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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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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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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