Reihan, Shaked, Thu 4.8.11, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
06:05 – A’anin Checkpoint (Gate 214)
The checkpoint is quiet and there are no residents of A’anin present (See above photo). Two military vehicles are standing by and the gate on the seamline zone side is open. A woman soldier explained that they are dealing with a suspicious object. Military vehicles, including a vehicle from the border patrol
ended and the checkpoint returned to its usual routine (See photo below). About 35 people, the donkey, and seven tractors wait in the middle of the checkpoint. The soldiers call them to approach one by one and they cross quickly. At 07:00 a few people and three tractors are still waiting to cross. One person without a permit is sent back and negotiations are discussed with another person.
07:10 – Shaked-Tura Checkpoint Gate 300
A herd of goats and their shepherd cross to the seamline zone. A transit crosses to the West Bank. A few people are waiting next to the turnstile at the entrance to the inspection facility.
07:30 – The Bridge opposite Zibda – Both gates on both sides are locked with two steel arms as usual. Ten cars are parked behind the gate leading to Kafin and Tulkarem. Evidently their drivers prefer to park there rather than drive all the way to the Reihan-Barta’a Checkpoint.
07:45 – Reihan Barta’a Checkpoint, the Palestinian Side
There are only a few people here at this hour. Only one vehicle is waiting to have its cargo checked. The drivers at the checkpoint talk about their difficulties in making a living. Registered taxis have priority over private vehicles for transporting people, and often the private drivers have no passengers at all, and sit and doze under the shed. They have no other alternative way of making a living. A bus leaves East Barta’a for Jenin each day at 07:30 and returns again at 13:00. The bus fare is NIS 7.00, and the taxi fare is NIS 10.00. There is also a bus from Jenin to Salem, and the fare is also NIS 7.00. The people here do not believe in a Palestinian state and have no trust in the Palestinian Authority – it’s enough to see who they are concerned with and where the money goes. “The best thing would be for there to be peace and for us to go work in Israel freely like we used to.”
08:10 – One of the charcoal factories in the area was closed by Israel because of the smoke that bothered the settlers and instead young workers work there packing charcoal from Egypt. This does not produce smoke. The old rusty bus that served as a shelter for the workers was demolished by Israeli soldiers or soldiers from the border patrol.
08:25 – the new fountain at the entrance to East Barta’a is complete, and colorful signs advertise a bazaar for school supplies in Hebrew. The town is still quiet at this early time of day.
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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