Reihan, Shaked, Sun 14.8.11, Morning
Translation: Bracha
5:55-7:45
Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint 05:55
At the upper parking lot one of the workers reports that today "everything is OK", but a seamstress reports that the machine is broken and that one of her friends is delayed. She is waiting for her and is worried.
One of the guards in the position on the hill above the sleeve suddenly jumps out in terror shouting that there is a huge bug in his position. Laughter resounds in the terminal and echoes, and he attacks it with a rock, which lands at our feet. He then attacks it with a stick. It is evidently a large praying mantis. He is told he'll be in the headlines on their website…
While we descend the sleeve we are told that there is a lot of disorder in the terminal today. The conveyer belt on which people put their belongings is broken and everyone has to put their things on the only one that it working. We hear loud voices from the terminal and people come out slowly and sporadically. We are told that it is crowded near the turnstile at the entrance to the terminal and on the side of the West Bank. S.A. reports that it took him 20 minutes to get through, which is longer than usual.
At 06:35 we are told that there are no longer any people waiting inside.
Two vans which we saw when we arrived at 06:00 this morning are still standing at the West Bank side. A Transit going towards the West Bank is meticulously examined. H., our driver, informs us that all the Transits that are now waiting for workers have already managed to go and come back.
07:00 – Shaked-Tura Checkpoint
The checkpoint is closed and there are no soldiers in sight. However, the area around the checkpoint has been cleaned up and the ugly red plastic barricade has been removed, as well as the yellow sign that was sloppily hung on the gate.
At 07:09 an armored car arrives from the West Bank and a soldier gets out, opens the inner gate, and looks around. Evidently he is surprised that the checkpoint is closed and locks the gate behind him, and continues to drive east along the fence.
At 07:14 a line of soldiers make their way slowly towards the checkpoint.
At 07:17 the inner gate opens and three soldiers, who do not respond to our "good morning," take up their positions and wait. After 3 minutes 3 more soldiers arrive.
The inspection booth opens at 07:22 and the generator goes on a minute later. The command car comes back to the seamline zone.
At 07:24 a soldier opens the gate for pedestrians. About 20 people approach the turnstile through a new fenced-in sleeve. Hanna has heard an explanation about the need for this sleeve as an important security element, and that this checkpoint is about to be converted into a full-fledged terminal. At 07:28 the vehicle gate is opened for a man riding on a donkey.
At 07:30, the first worker enters the seamline zone, a half hour late. Everyone crossed within ten minutes, but at least one of the workers missed his ride and decided to return home. They have lost a day’s work.
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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