Reihan, Shaked, Tue 3.5.11, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
Basheer’s wife had the operation in her second eye and feels good. Basheer thanks all who helped her and wished her well: “Give everyone regards, from me, my wife and all the children. We’re waiting to see you – come visit us.”
On the way to the checkpoint we see a Palestinian flag proudly flying from the roof of the Umm Reihan school (visible to all who pass by).
06:10 Reihan-Barta’a checkpoint
Many pickup trucks loaded with produce from the West Bank waiting to be inspected before crossing to the seam zone. We talk with the drivers and hear about the hardships of daily life on the West Bank.
People want to join the Palestine Police. But they only accept people over 30. The salary isn’t great, NIS 2000, and most of the soldiers have families.
A resident of Umm Reihan proudly tells us that the village has been connected to the electrical and water grids. He also says that, with the help of a lawyer, the village is pressure to relocate the road from the village to the school (I didn’t understand where it was) on which there had been traffic accidents in which pupils were involved. Regarding the flag he says with satisfaction: “People [Israelis] who drive by see a Palestinian flag, think they’re in the West Bank – and turn around.” He’s now trying to organize a group of Israelis and Palestinians to talk about peace.
People on their way to work cross through the checkpoint freely. Occasionally an army Hummer appears from somewhere or other, the checkpoint closes and everything stops until the heavy vehicle goes away and the checkpoint gates open again.
Dothancheckpoint – Even when soldiers are there, it’s not an obstacle or a problem – drivers drive by without stopping.
07:00 Shaked-Tura checkpoint
A soldier photographs us. I offer to sign the photo but he doesn’t reply. What can you do.
The checkpoint opens at 06:00. Traffic flows. Laborers crossed early in the morning; now the teachers are going through. Soon the children will arrive, packed like sardines in the pickup truck, bursting out running toward the checkpoint with satchels gaping open. The occupation apparatus is well-oiled.
The residents are trying to get extended the hours during which the checkpoint is open in the morning, to make it easier for those coming from the seam zone to Tura and has to hurry back. They want to the checkpoint to be stay open.
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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