Routine of conquest and flowering of Hatzav (squill)
The lockdown, imposed on Rosh HaShanah at the checkpoints of the West Bank, was extended until after Shabbat because of the escape of six prisoners from Gilboa prison. Clarification at the District Coordination Office (DCO) revealed that the lockdown is not imposed on the permanent residents of the Seamline Zone or on those who have permission to work in the Seamline Zone.
14:40 -Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
The traffic is relatively alert. A tractor with a cart passes to the West Bank passes with no inspection. Several cars pass in two directions. A resident of Daher al Malec waits for his daughter and granddaughter who arrive from the West Bank. A woman with two children passes through the sleeve (the enclosed passage for pedestrians) and after her, the husband in their car. Everyone is dressed festively. Two drivers welcome us with much friendliness. The area around the checkpoint is filthy as usual, but a Palestinian cleaner works in the area. Cleanliness for only the soldiers. The settlement of Shaked next to the checkpoint and to Daher al Malec village, “wins” a new wall.
We turn to Highway 611 and travel to the entrance of East Barta’a. We didn’t see people pass through the breach in the fence. To our understanding, they also didn’t pass through today because there were no cars parked at the foot of the villages of Kalkis and Daher al Abed that are beyond the fence. At the entrance to East Barta’a only five cars were parked. Is it because of the Lockdown?
15:10 – We passed by Barta’a Checkpoint. The parking lot next to the vehicle checkpoint was full of trucks loaded with merchandise. The parking lot on the Palestinian side was very full, two parking lots above Highway 596 were almost empty.
15:20 Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint
The pillboxes on the way, and the checkpoint itself, were not staffed. The traffic flowed in two directions. We were a bit surprised, because of the proximity of the checkpoint to Jenin, which is infamous after all the stories about the escape of the six prisoners
15:35 – Harmish Checkpoint
On the sides of Highway 585 there was a splendid blossoming of squill (a bulbous, flowering herb, also called sea onion). The highway leads in the direction of Cafin, Baaka al Sharkia, and Tulkarem. Once there was a locked gate here and because of that we traveled on detour roads. It has already been years that the gate is open, and the checkpoint is not staffed.
15:50 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, the Palestinian side
The parking lot is full, but not as it is on normal days. Someone tells us about a simple accident that happened to him around Shechem. An Israeli driver injured his car and afterward gave him the details of his insurance. We saw the small injury. We didn’t understand what the man wanted from us. According to his thinking, we are a human rights organization and therefore we should take care of this. Perhaps. The new buffet is open. We enjoyed the shaved ice for two shekels. We didn’t see the coffee boys today. In the parking lot next to the vehicle checkpoint, there were only three trucks.
16:10 – People come down the sleeve, an enclosed roofed passageway, on their way to the West Bank. Obviously because of the lockdown, no one passed through to Israel; only to the Seamline Zone.
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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Hermesh
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Hermesh
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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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Ya'bed-Dotan
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Ya’bed-Dotan
This checkpoint is located on road 585, at the crossroads of Mevo Dotan settler-colony / Jenin/ Ya’abad. It has an army watchtower (‘pillbox’ post) and concrete blocs that slow down vehicular traffic. It was erected when Barta’a Checkpoint, lying to the west on the Separation Fence, was privatized and its operation was passed over to civilian security personnel. Since December 2009 this checkpoint enables flow of Palestinian vehicular traffic towards the Barta’a Checkpoint. Seldom is it manned by soldiers sitting in the watchtower, who conduct random inspections of vehicles and passengers. (february 2020)
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