Reihan, Shaked, Sun 8.7.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
Shaked-Tura checkpoint 07:00
The gates are open, the soldiers are inside, two students wait to be called to cross to the Palestinian side, a herd of goats waits on the Tura (West Bank) side on its way to graze in the seam zone, but the first one through turns out to be from the village of Tura, at 07:08, then the goats and then the students.
We’ve already mentioned how spiffy the checkpoint looks, how it operates like clockwork. Meanwhile only thistles grow around it, but the landscaping will arrive eventually. The road is new, as is the shiny fenced corridor leading to the center of the checkpoint. The pedestrian crossing already looks a little worn, the shed is already leaning slightly, and the traffic lights aren’t yet operating.
And as always: those crossing on a regular basis leave their car, walk to be inspected, return and bring the car in for inspection. Every day, for many years already. The routine of leaving for work, the occupation routine. It seems perfectly normal to the soldiers – after all, they were born into this situation.
Barta’a checkpoint 07:30
We parked in the lower lot (on the Palestinian side) where there was still a little room. About six trucks laden with merchandise wait to be called for inspection. We delivered clothing, drank tea. The bathrooms are only so-so. People go through the revolving gate five at a time. The crossing seems to go smoothly. We weren’t able to time anyone to see how long it took them to go through because a sick woman waited for us to bring her to Rambam hospital in Haifa. Although we’d made arrangements ahead of time for her to cross in our vehicle, they didn’t exempt her from inspection. We went up to the vehicle inspection shed where the woman and her escort got out and were checked “like at the entrance to a shopping mall.” We went up, were inspected, came down and the gate was opened for us. There’s nothing new under this sun. Let’s hope for the best.
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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