Ya`abad checkpont: huge signs herald the expansion of the settlement
Mevo-Dotan, Area C
We passed the Barta’a checkpoint that separates the Seamline Zone from Area C of the West Bank and continued towards Mevo Dotan. The fields are green, spring is blooming. Signs for the construction of the “peaceful” settlement and pictures of Rabbi Menahem Schneerson hide the guard tower of the checkpoint and the red sign that warns from entering to the Palestinians Area A. Signs of the Occupation. At the checkpoint itself, there is no guard and the cars pass to Jenin with no disturbance.
Barta’a CheckpointHundreds of workers return from work, primarily in Israel. In the lower parking lot (after passing the terminal), hundreds of cars are parked during the day leaving almost no orderly paths for traffic. There is a lot of crowding at this hour; cars have a hard time leaving the checkpoint. Because of the crowding, at every corner, people try to help—with their hands, with shouting, and with much good will, to solve the traffic jams. Because of the heat, the nut and cookie/cake counters go inside the awning that leads to the terminal. People approach us and Neta gives them the phone numbers of Sylvia’s staff, who may help them submit a request to remove them from the list of those prohibited from entering Israel
Tura Checkpoint
Workers return from jobs in the Seamline Zone and in Israel. One of them tells us that “Today they opened at 08:00.”( A delay of one hour.) Another person says that he left for work in the morning from Barta’a Checkpoint (a long and expensive way) because Tura Checkpoint opens later and the hours are irregular. Two policewomen come over to talk to us and tell us that in the near future the Border Police officers will replace the soldiers. The wall that is being built on the fence already reaches the checkpoint and there will be additional work done.
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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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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