Barta'a checkpoint: Many complaints about overcrowding in the mornings

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Tura-Shaked

Ya'bed-Dotan

Observers:

Tami Rituv, photos, Neta Golan, Reporting Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham

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Jun-9-2022

Afternoon

Barta'a checkpoint: Peanut and watermelon stalls welcome those returning to the West Bank

Photo:

Tami Ritov

Yabed-Dotan checkpoint

Photo:

Tami Ritov

15:50 – We drove past Barta’a Checkpoint. The parking lot was full and many people were walking down the fenced-in covered sleeve info-icon that leads to the terminal on their way home to the West bank. The truck parking lot was empty. We continued on to Yaabed Checkpoint. A military vehicle was parked next to one of the pillboxes between the village of Emricha and the checkpoint.

16:10 Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint

The flags of the Golani Brigade were flying next to the guard post. Two soldiers were standing on the porch on the roof of the pillbox and they were not stopping traffic in either direction. There were two army vehicles parked on the side.

16:30 Barta’a – Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side

The parking lot was still full. We parked on the side of the road that was marked with red and white (no parking area) in back of a line of Palestinian cars. Evidently there have been no parking fines recently. A loud argument was taking place next to the shed where people cross and the Palestinian attendant was keeping things in order. People complained about the terrible crowds in the morning and asked us to come and observe. They claimed that we had not come in the morning for more than a year and didn’t believe that we had come and observed. Closing the holes in the separation fence has not only caused inhumane crowding in the morning, but also led to a large number of requests for the phone number of Sylvia’s team who help people with problems concerning entry into Israel and other issues. We gave cards with the number to anyone who wanted it and wished them luck. Many people were returning from the West bank at this hour and some people were returning to the seamline zone. A new booth had been added next to the kiosk and the peanut booth where they were selling watermelon at one for NIS 10 or 2 for NIS 15.

The drive to Tura Checkpoint was slow. There was a line of cars driving from Reihan – Barta’a Checkpoint to Israel.

17:00 Tura-Shaked Checkpoint

There was a lot of traffic at the checkpoint, which is usually empty. The silly stoplight at the vehicle crossing was red. Five cars were waiting to cross to the West Bank. A few minutes later the light turned green and the cars slowly crossed eastward. A few women were waiting for their ride under the shed. Their ride arrived at 17:10 and we left.

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).

Ya’abad-Dotan

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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)