Reihan, Shaked, Sun 5.8.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
06:50 Shaked/Tura
Even though we arrived early, almost all the gates were already open. The concrete cubes and plastic barriers had been taken away or moved to the roadside. At 07:00 the first laborers arrive from the West Bank on their way to the seam zone, and also a herd of goats. A festively-dressed family and a solitary student cross to the West Bank. A few cars from the seam zone wait for laborers.
07:25 Reihan/Barta’a
Eight loaded trucks and pickups enter for initial inspection. A truck laden with packages of frozen (for now) meat from Uruguay in the parking lot on the Palestinian side. We were told the meat had been unloaded from a refrigerated truck which is apparently not authorized to cross to the seam zone. About five hours will pass before the meat reaches the butchers’ refrigerators in Barta’a.
A man from Yabed who arrived at the checkpoint at 05:00 is waiting in the shed. He has a bag with two bottles of milk, a gift for his sister in Barta’a. He was told he may bring the goods through only at 09:00. He waits patiently, even somewhat amused. Does he know what we’ll learn only at 11:15? We summon the person in charge who arrives quickly to tell us nothing can be done, those are the rules; he isn’t able/allowed to explain them to us but assures us they’re not at all arbitrary although that’s how it seems to us. Nor is he willing to put the milk in the refrigerator. When we phoned Sharon, the manager of the checkpoint, he said he’s not aware of that rule and promised to look into it. And in fact, at 11:15, as noted (the delay was caused by problems with our phones), we received an authorized response from Sharon, the manager: There was a misunderstanding regarding the regulation dealing with equipment and merchandise. Merchandise?! We express amazement – we’re talking about two bottles of milk. Yes, says Sharon, we made the regulation more explicit. Unfortunately it didn’t occur to us to record the identity of the man who was detained for 4 hours without even being given an explanation for the absurd delay.
08:15 Dothan/Yabed
The checkpoint is manned, the soldiers moving cars through without delays. One asks us if we have authorization to be there.
For Mireleh’s benefit, we also visit Hermesh. The new neighborhood built not far from the gate is still uninhabited, as it was on our previous visit; it appears neglected. Most of the other buildings in the locality look well-cared for.
08:55 We returned to the Barta’a checkpoint. The meat truck has in the meantime parked on the road, waiting to enter inspection. The owner of the milk bottles joins a short line before the locked gate which opens at 09:00 for people to enter five at a time. Incidentally: the bathrooms in the lower parking lot are filthy.
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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