Reihan, Shaked, Sat 24.4.10, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
"We used to be free."
06:55 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint
The dogs are barking. Two vans are waiting to cross to the West Bank. At 07:00 the announcement comes that the checkpoint is open.
07:10 – Today as well Walid and his brother are among the first to cross on their way to work in Barta'a.
The southward entrance gate is closed. Possibly there is a malfunction because a van and its passengers are waiting to pass through the opposite gate that leads to the facility in back. Or perhaps someone thought to make it easier for those going southward? .There are two inspection windows open. The hallway is not crowded, and some people tell us that it is crowded in the side rooms, and that there is a delay and others tell us that things are running smoothly.
The seamstresses that cross to East Barta'a every day tell us that there are malfunctions with the biometer (palm reader) and they are told to go to Salem. At Salem they are told that there is no problem with the palm ID and that it is working properly, and they end up wasting a work day. We hear the inspector saying "khut idak" (Open your hand) over and over again.
We phoned the Liaison and Coordination Administration and attempted to help a businessman from Barta'a who was not permitted to go through with merchandise because of some error. He was allowed to cross. We asked him what he did for a living. He said, "Why don't they let us work and live in peace and quiet? We used to be free…"
There were four vans parked in the upper parking lot.
We left at 08:05.
08:15 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint
Before driving to the checkpoint we turned in the direction of the settlements. There is a tank standing at the entrance to the army camp and there are flags of the armored corps flying. The new buildings are large and impressive. We drove along the flag-lined road to the area of the entrance to the settlements (one kilometer). At 08:20 we arrived at the checkpoint and saw that it was empty and the gate was closed and locked. When we called the Liaison and Coordination Administration we were told that there had been explosives placed on either side of the fence and that was why the gate was closed. So where are the soldiers?
"They'll be there in another couple of hours."
So why isn't there a notice on the gate?
"Whoever needs to know knows already," replied the Humanitarian hotline. "Security reasons."
Can you give us details?
"That's what we were told. Security reasons."
We went into the neighboring village of Dir el Malak to see if "whoever needs to know knows." We met two young people who said that maybe the Mukhtar (the mayor of the village) knows.
We stopped to talk with four men in a far on their way to the Reihan Checkpoint. They knew since the previous night (April 23rd) the gate had been closed at 06:00 the previous evening instead of at 07:00 and they had waited behind the gate until 10:00 at night.
There were a lot of people including families with children, and when the crowd increased in front of the gate and they asked until when it would be closed a soldier had said, "Everyone has to be out of here in a half hour or I'll shoot. Get out." "We were on our way home," explained the man, "So where were we supposed to go?"
We left at 08:55.
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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