Reihan, Shaked, Sun 4.7.10, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
15:40 – 17:00
Shaked checkpoint
15:40 The checkpoint is quiet, only 2 cars with passengers coming through from the West Bank to the seam zone.
Reihan checkpoint – 16:00
A car on the way to the West Bank detained at the vehicle checkpoint; lengthy documents inspection. We weren’t able to find out what the problem is. After 20 minutes it went through. Many families with children coming from Jenin to the seam zone are moving through the corridor. One of the laborers, returning to Khalajun, his village, told us his wife was born in Barta’a but came to live in his village. Now she’s not permitted to spend the night in her family’s home in Barta’a to take care of her sick father. All requests to the DCO were unsuccessful; they claim that “the law forbids it.”
16:20 We walked through the corridor to the terminal. 12 people at the terminal entrance; they enter immediately and exit quickly. At 16:30 many laborers arrive and it begins to get crowded next to the revolving gate. Many people are let in, but stop when people arrive from Jenin on their way to the seam zone. Three detainees are already seated inside the terminal.
Laborers returning from work in Israel report that at 4 AM it’s very crowded at the Irtach checkpoint, through which they leave for their jobs in Israel. One said he was there for two hours, from five to seven. I asked whether the delay cost him work hours; his reply: “These checkpoints cost us our lives.” They say there’s one line for older people and two for younger ones, and recently the latter (not only special cases) have been detained for very long periods of time in the crowded rooms where an additional inspection is conducted. Some are held for such a long time they lose a day of work “because their employer didn’t wait,” or they have to look for another job. They say the problems are worse on Fridays.
16:45 A second window opens and people go through faster in both directions.
16:50 The detainees were taken to be checked and released to go through.
17:00 People returning from Jenin wait in the upper parking lot for their vehicle, which has been standing in the closed area for about 30 minutes.
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)
Ruti TuvalMar-21-2022Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
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