Reihan, Shaked, Tue 27.5.08, Morning

Place: Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint Tura-Shaked

Observers: Tami Sh., Hassida S. (reporting)

May-27-2008

| Morning

Translation: Devorah K.

Reihan CP 05:35

We came early in order to understand the morning rush. The yellow gate was opened in our honor, and the entrance gate to the terminal was opened a few minutes later. A large block of people were waiting (we estimated that there were about 150) and crowding at the entrance. The women waited calmly, impressively quietly, at the side.

At this point, we separated: Tami stayed near the gate and I went up to the upper entrance of the sleeve to observe those coming out after inspection. The first eight left at 05:45. Groups of men alternated with groups of women. Tami took note of one woman who was among the last to enter the terminal (about 30 men still had not entered), and that woman came out with a few other women at 06:20.

A few men mentioned that they had waited outside from 2 a.m. or even from midnight. Either they were exaggerating, or they are highly pressured to enter immediately with the opening of the gate; because there is a big difference between the time it takes for the first to leave and the time it takes those who enter last — as much as a whole hour.

Of course it would be better if they opened the gate at five, but it is reasonable to think that even then there would be those who would wait for a long time before the opening and those who would take longer to go through.

Many complain about the fact that agricultural permits that are no longer valid are not being renewed, and Tami confirms that lately there have been very few permits. People who submit requests simply do not get any response. A few said that the permits are at the DCO, but there they refuse to distribute them.

Pickup trucks: When we arrived there were ten pickup trucks loaded with goods. When the inspection started, at seven, five of them entered the compound, and five remained in the parking lot. The inspection took about an hour and a half.

Shaked CP 07:15

On our way we saw the old man and the donkey, who had already gone a long way. The first herd was already grazing outside the fence, and the second was already in stages of passage toward the isolated house. Some of the pupils have already gone through and there was a flow of vehicles and pedestrians from both sides. Some were inspected near the vehicles, some entered the inspection facility. Everybody knows where she is supposed to go.
The inspections were conducted quietly and quickly.

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).
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)
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  Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
  
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