Reihan, Shaked, Sun 17.8.08, Morning
|
06:00 Reihan Bartaa Checkpoint
At first sight everything seems allright. Tenders and their loads are already being checked in the compound, private cars examined at the vehicle checkpoint, and people coming to the checkpoint, mostly on foot from the bridge and a few in taxis, immediately entering the terminal. By a second look, we see that it is not at all alright. The people are entering by the gate from the Palestinian parking lot into the sleeve, but are stuck there.
06:20 – scores of people still waiting in the sleeve. A telephone call to S., the Ministry of Defence supervisor, elicits the answer that there are no special problems, the screening machine is functioning and whoever is rushing to work should come at 05:00 – the hour that the checkpoint opens. 06:30 – in the upper parking lot on the Seam Zone side, people are very angry. They are still waiting for workmates who are stuck in the terminal or the sleeve. We went down to the terminal entrance. Only one window open for checking IDs, but the pressure isn’t there. From inside the terminal, out of our sight, hubbub and arguments can be heard. People coming out tell us that the crowd has lost patience, and passage is taking an hour "like it used to…" 07:05 – not all the Shahak workers are through yet – though they were supposed to begijn work at 06:45. 07:00 – our friend, B., who works in the carpet plant, describes the difficulties in transferring a drill, including inspection in the inside rooms. Says that there are workers who have given up and returned home, because they were late for their transport.
The moment we got out of the car, a soldier shouted that we were not to approach.
Passage of cars and pedestrians is proceeding at a reasonable pace. Pedestrians, in both directions, are going through the inspection hut.
07:45 – a woman doubled over and walking with difficulty gets out of a car to await inspection. After a minute, she gives up and gets back in the car. The soldiers let her through to the West Bank in the car.
Few waiting to cross into the Seam Zone at this hour.
08:00 Reihan-Bartaa Checkpoint
Almost no people at this hour.
We left early, and on our way to Jalame Checkpoint, to pick up a sick boy and his father on their way to Rambam Hospital (Haifa), we passed East Bartaa. The work on the entry road to the village has progressed but is not finished. The main street is quiet and sleepy. At 08:20 most of the shops are closed.
|
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)
Mar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
-