Reihan, Shaked, Sun 25.1.09, Morning
Translation: Devorah K.
06:00 – Reihan-Barta'a CP
"Today things are fine, thank God, with God's help it will be that way the whole day!" That is the way a worker on his way to work in the seamline zone greets us.
Many workers, men and women, are already waiting in the upper parking lot for their rides. Through the sleeve we observe the work of a policeman standing near his vehicle, "community policing", in the middle of the road. Drivers who have just emerged from the inspection shed are required to halt. The policeman glances into the vehicle, takes their documents for examination in the police car; they are returned quickly and the drivers are allowed to go on their way.
The gardeners are freshening the brown stones in the polished gardens. The signs that greet the new arrivals to the terminal direct the residents of the seamline zone to the path on the right and the residents of the West Bank to the path on the left. The logic behind this novelty is not clear in view of the fact that at the end of the paths there is only one turnstile (and usually only only one window) to serve those entering and leaving whether they are residents of the West Bank or of the seamline zone. Could it be that in the afternoon, when there are many people, there is some preferential treatment for one or the other group? We still hear complaints about the inefficient functioning of the biometric inspection and of workers being sent to Salem, losing some hours of work, in order to put their identification papers in order. 06:25 – The police car has disappeared in the meantime. About 30 workers are waiting for their rides. Nine pickup trucks with goods are waiting in the lower parking lot. 06:40 – Four cars enter the inspection shed. From the direction of the kennels we hear dogs barking.
The gates are open already. A yellow transit taxi goes through at a crazy speed in the direction of the seamline zone. Four cars are waiting on the other side. About 20 people are near the turnstile.The old man and his donkey emerge at two minutes to seven. Somebody notifies us that "Today things are perfect, today everything is like gold. But it's not that way every day." All the cars go through quickly. The pupils are still on vacation. At 07:10 we leave and that same yellow taxi – returns 'flying'.
07:20 – Reihan-Barta'a CP
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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