Translation: Bracha B.A.

Reihan Barta’a Checkpoint 06:55
A van is waiting at the top. At 07:00 the announcement of “Good morning, Crossing will now begin,” sounds. There is a cold wind blowing. Dogs are barking. From the direction of the tower across from the roadside booth we hear calls reminding us that Big Brother is watching. The soldier’s post near the gate on the road is empty. This Saturday there are very few people. People cross through quickly. Two windows are open and the clerks are men.

07:08 – The first people come out. The restfulness that prevailed during the previous shift is also present today. People are smiling. Only one person coming out complains about the time that it takes him to get to Barta’a. The loudspeaker at the entrance calls in the usual impolite tone, “Sakker el baab! (Shut the door!) I said only five [at a time]!. Why are you coming in? I explicitly told you in Arabic..”

07:40 – The corridors leading to the two windows are crowded but empty quickly.

08:10 – 6 vans are waiting to pick up passengers.

Shaked Checkpoint
08:20 - it is quiet and empty. A van with an officer from the Liaison and Coordination Administration stops beside us to say hello and to assure us that everything is in order. Feeling calm from what he told us, we left the empty checkpoint at 08:40.

Location Description

Tura-Shaked Checkpoint

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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-22-2022

Ruti Tuval

The locked gate at the Anin checkpoint

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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).

Reihan, Shaked, Sat 9.1.10, Morning

Translation: Bracha B.A.

The locked gate at the Anin checkpoint