Reihan, Tue 24.1.12, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
06:00 – Reihan Checkpoint
The upper parking lot is filled with cars but there are only few people. I was told that the checkpoint opened at 05:00 but that things were not running smoothly – the machine was working but the people were not. Women coming towards me in the sleeve report that the terminal is crowded and people are delayed. They demand that I "Tell them." I wish I could.
At 06:15 there is a big crowd of people waiting in front of the entrance to the terminal like I have never seen before. There is a lot of noise and commotion, but no one is coming out. Soon people begin to come out, but not in an orderly manner – a group comes out and then there is a pause, then another group and a pause.
06:30 – a woman is waiting for her friends who have not come out yet. Eventually they come out. Another group has gone in but only two of them come out. At 06:40 all the women workers have usually come out by now, but today they are still coming out. The men come out at a run since they are already very late for work.
At 06:45 people stop coming out again and there is a commotion inside the terminal grows louder. People who usually come out at 06:30 only got out at 07:05 today. There are still people waiting at the entrance to the terminal to go inside.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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).
-