ברטעה-ריחן, טורה-שקד, יעבד-דותן
14:30 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint
The checkpoint is quiet and the hot sun is beating down. The garbage container has been emptied but there is a lot of litter on the sides of the road and in the field. Vehicles cross in both directions from the West Bank and from the seamline zone without any delays. A truck coming from the West Bank is briefly checked, and another going towards the West Bank loaded with tools and a water tank crosses quickly.
15:20 – Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint
There are tobacco fields in late flower, ready for the leaves to be harvested. We didn't see any farmers in the fields, perhaps because of the late hour and the intense heat. Cars are moving slowly in both directions. The checkpoint is manned but the soldiers are not visible and no one approached us as they sometimes do. Three jeeps are blocking the part of the crossing that goes to Area A. Cars move alternately in each direction, evidently soldiers let vehicles cross and the cars cross quietly without being signaled. Some people ask how we are and remark that they appreciate the fact that we are here despite the sun and the heat. A person being detained by the security services asked for our help.
15:50 – Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint
The parking lots and areas on the sides of the road are packed with cars as usual. We also park on the side of the road and walk to the entrance to the terminal in the Palestinian parking lot, where we stand in the shade under the awning. People are pleased to see us and remark that we haven't been to the checkpoint for some time. Some people complain about parking and others ask if we brought toys and clothing. They miss Anna [who brings clothing]. M. asks us to bring toys to the kindergarten. Another man who has been denied entrance to the security forces/police asks what he can do to receive a permit to enter Israel.
We arrived at the upper parking lot at 16:20. It is very hot and despite the fact that people are tired they greet us and smile. Beyond the turnstile in the entrance things are crowded and disorderly despite the fact that three inspection windows are open. We ask a security guard to go and see what the problem is and we were ignored.
We timed how long it took people to cross, and it was 8-10 minutes. When it is hot, crowded, and people are tired, that can seem like an eternity.
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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