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Reihan, Shaked, Wed 20.2.08, Morning

Place: Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint Tura-Shaked
Tags: Passage Restrictions Slow passage
Observers: Ruti T, Noah L (reporting)
Feb-20-2008
| Morning

07:30 – 08:00 Shaked Checkpoint

Only light traffic flowing without delays in both directions, people, donkeys, goats, cars.
One man detained, waiting for outcome of a check into his case that soldiers are making. He is not being allowed to cross into the Seam Zone and is compelled to go back the way he came, but before he does, he comes to ask our help: he owns a carpentry shop in Yabed, and has an olive grove in the Seam Zone. He has a pass for Shaked Checkpoint but sometimes, when Shaked is closed, he returns via Reihan and then he is listed as "illegal" because he should have left and come back through Shaked on the same day. Therefore, they take his document from him and he is forced to ask for another at Salem. The soldiers provided the right forms for him to complete. We took his details and will see if we can help.
An older man approaches us: he also has an olive grove in the Seam Zone and a pass, but not for his oldest son who wants to help him. The reason for the younger man’s prohibition has not been given to them. They have already approached our women at the checkpoint, given them papers and requests, but without response. Disappointed, he is not willing even to give us his name so that we can check what has happened with his case (it is important to phone with information, even if negative, so that they know the matter is being dealt with and not forgotten).

 

08:10 – 09:30 Reihan Checkpoint

The checkpoint is very busy, heavy traffic in both directions. People coming out of the terminal to the Seam Zone say that the transit time is between one and two hours! Many people are still waiting inside, and outside the terminal. We descended to the Palestinian parking lot , where 40 people are waiting to enter the terminal in the direction of the Seam Zone. We have not seen a picture like this at such an hour on Saturdays in many months. The drivers confirm that the pressure is great today – many waiting and the process slow, no one knows why. We didn’t find the checkpoint commander, and meanwhile the line outside the terminal shortens quickly. Roughly at 09:00 we measure the transit time of a family as 20 minutes.
In the vehicle checks, the ritual of mirrors and dogs, a relatively fast inspection – about 20 minutes for a group of four vehicles.
A 60 year old from Yabed approaches us: he has an entry permit for the Seam Zone, but not a work permit, and therefore he is refused employment. The reason for the refusal is that he has no children. Meanwhile, he cannot make a living. Previously he worked all over the country. We take his details to deal with it.

  • 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)
      מחסום עאנין: פרצה מפוארת במרכז המחסום
      Mar-21-2022
      Anin Checkpoint: A magnificent breach in the center of the checkpoint
      View the full album
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