Northern checkpoints: What is hidden behind the quiet and routine? Increasing hardships for the Palestinians.
15:20 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
The checkpoint was quiet and empty as usual at this time of day. A small truck arrived and drops off three workers who crossed to the West Bank and drove back from where it had come.
We drove past Barta’a Checkpoint. Five trucks loaded with building materials were waiting in the parking lot near the vehicle checkpoint. This was unusual since most trucks wait to cross in the morning.
15:40 – Hermesh Checkpoint
As usual in the past few years the checkpoint was open and cars were crossing freely in both directions. A red sign warned against entering Area A. The road leads to Tulkarem. Unlike most days, the watchtower at the turnoff leading to the settlement of Hermesh was manned. The sign read that Route 585 leads to Mevo Dotan and Afula, but there is no mention of the Palestinians city of Jenin or the town of Yaabed or any other Palestinian town simply does not exist according to the sign.
15:50 – Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint
The checkpoint was not manned and cars were crossing freely in both directions. Five Palestinian cars drove down from Mevo Dotan. Perhaps the people work there but we didn’t know.
16:10 – Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side
The trucks that we had seen before were now going in to be checked. The parking lot was full, but not as full as in previous days when more people were allowed to cross here in the morning. A lot of people were coming back from work in Israel and in the seamline zone. Several people were praying near the crossing facility, including one of the Palestinian attendants. Three shiny motorcycles were parked there which was an unusual sight.
16:30 – On our way to our car we met the man who had asked for a copy of the Hebrew instruction book “1000 Words” for his friends (See report from 27 March). I have not yet found it and perhaps I didn’t look hard enough. The man said that it was important for his friend to learn the holy tongue that Moses spoke. Another man said that Sylvia was taking care of trying to lift the ban placed on him to enter Israel. We wished him luck.
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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