Reihan, Shaked, Tue 12.1.10, Morning
07:10 Reihan CP – Life Stops
While we were on our way to the CP, we got a phone call from Shula telling us that our friend, the driver, A., was in some trouble with his car at the Reihan CP — that there is a big mess (an 'incident'). She asked us to go there before any other CP on this shift.
When we came near the CP we saw a large number of soldiers, about 200 meters before the upper parking lot. The road descending to the CP was blocked by soldiers and a long queue of cars stood waiting without knowing what was happening. We parked above on the side of the road. They did not even allow us to approach on foot 'to check the facilities. The soldiers with whom we spoke did not know anything and we could hardly talk to them. From time to time they received permission to let some people through and they let one or two cars go through.
It turned out that this morning, at 06:00, the driver, A., who drives people between the Reihan CP and the villages around Jenin for a living, drove out of the Palestinian parking lot on his way to collect passengers; but for some reason, instead of turning right, he turned left and came into the CP very fast. When he did this, he got on to the spikes and they punctured three of his wheels. That led to a 'sabotage incident procedure', a procedure of 'stopping life' at the CP, and a lot of tumult. The soldiers and the guards instructed him to get out of the vehicle (Transit) and lie on the floor. After that, they arrested him and in the meantime, the robot inspected the vehicle and while doing that blew up the windows and tore the upholstery. Because of the tumult, we were afraid that the next time we saw A., it would be when they kept him under arrest and would file a case in which he would be accused of an attempt to carry out a terrorist attack. We phoned from the CP and Shula phoned from home, to explain to the people in charge of security and to the officer in charge at the brigade, that he is a sick man (diabetes and heart trouble), and certainly not a terrorist, and that whatever happens, they should treat him humanely and not cause him any more trauma than he had already undergone.
07:20 Shaked-Tura CP
The winter vacation is still in effect in the schools and the only pupils going through the CP are those going for exams, with booklets and pages in their hands. The driver of the Transit on his way to the West Bank and a girl aged about eight, were inspected in the x-ray pavilion and returned after a few seconds. The girl's schoolbag was also inspected. A young fellow met his aunt coming from the West Bank, in the middle of the CP. He gave her a few packages, gifts for the family that she was going to visit abroad. They parted with a kiss near the soldiers. This also happens in the CP. The traffic flows steadily, and we went back to Reihan.
08:00 Reihan CP
Life in the CP has now returned to normal. People emerged from the terminal quickly and were swallowed up in the Transits that waited for them. In the terminal itself, two windows were active, but after a 'life stop' of two hours, many people got stuck on their way to work. People say there were some who simply went home because there was no point in going out to work so late.
In the sleeve that descends into the terminal, two teachers stopped us, and, speaking English, complained that they are inspected every day and are delayed for about 40 minutes. They asked us to do something about this. One of them said that she would write us, and we gave her the address of our site.
When we stood near the turnstile at the entrance to the terminal we were frightened by a sudden shout from the loudspeaker; we understood the word 'checkpoint', and the electric doors shut. After a few seconds, there was another loud shout: return to normal, and the doors were opened by a guard dressed in black (why must the uniform be so threatening?). One of those going through, angry and offended, told us about the insulting gestures that a masked soldier made toward the Palestinians going through the 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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