Back to reports search page

Reihan, Shaked, Sun 14.12.08, Morning

Observers: Hanna H. and Ruth T.
Dec-14-2008
| Morning

Guest: Sofi, student from Germany
Translation: Devorah K.


06:00 Reihan-Barta'a CP
Many workers are waiting for their rides in the upper parking lot. The people go through within about ten minutes. This morning we finally found out about an event that took place on the eve of the holiday in the afternoon. We received a phone call saying that the CP is crowded with workers returning from work and that only one post is open. Sharon, the civilian responsible for the CP, claimed that he is not obligated to man an additional post for the benefit of the illegal sojourners in Israel who 'were suddenly reminded' to arrive in honor of the holiday. One of the workers who 'dared' to ask him to open an additional post was detained for two hours.

6:45 – In the lower parking lot eleven pickup trucks with goods are waiting. In the shed only one car is being inspected and there are no cars waiting on the road.


7:00 Shaked-Tura CP
When we arrive it looks as if a soldier is coming towards us. But he turns to a driver who is waiting in his car, with an Israeli licence plate, facing the seamline zone. He demands that the driver drive back to the crossroads below. According to the driver, a resident of Arara, the soldiers simply victimize people. On Wednesday, for example, they confiscated the ID cards of everyone who arrived from the direction of the West Bank for half an hour. The driver did not go away: "I am an Israeli and I know I am allowed to stand here." The soldier does not repeat his demand. This morning the pupils are coming back from a week's vacation. Their schoolbags are inspected with great care. A little girl of about four takes her bag off her back at the gate.
7:20 – Ten men and women students arrive at the CP. There is one car at the inspection post. It goes through within two minutes. Workers come out of the inspection room in groups of five. Near the gate teachers and pupils are waiting.
7:30 – About fifteen people are waiting near the turnstile. A taxi is invited to enter. At least six cars are waiting on the other side.
7:35 – An old couple in a small cart drawn by a donkey ask are asked to wait near the gate. There is some problem with their son, but by the time we offer to help, the problem is resolved.

7:40 – About fifteen people are still waiting near the turnstile. The inspection in the pavilion goes on for longer than usual and the driver from Arara, who has been waiting since 6:50, is still waiting.


8:00 Reihan-Barta'a CP
We came back in order to take a sick child traveling with his mother to Rambam.

The bus from Barta'a arrives as it does every morning. The number of workers waiting for rides is now smaller.

  • Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint

    See all reports for this place
    • 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).

  • Tura-Shaked

    See all reports for this place
    • 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)
      מחסום עאנין:  פרצה מפוארת במרכז המחסום
      Mar-21-2022
      Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
Donate