Barta'a checkpoint: functions as a border crossing

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Observers: 
Tami Retuv, Hannah Heller Translation: Naomi Halsted
Dec-9-2021
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Afternoon

Once again, we went out to see how thousands of Palestinian laborers return after making their contribution to Israel’s economy, and make their way to their homes in the West Bank along a rough pathway and through holes in the fence – it’s a very quick route and there are makeshift parking lots close by. The route through the Barta’a checkpoint is very long, but it has the advantage of allowing them to stock up at the kiosk with pastries for the weekend.

The Barta’a checkpoint, the largest in the area, functions as if there were a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank (euphemistically known as the seamline zone). In the afternoon, they only check cars belonging to residents of Barta’a who have gone to Jenin, their district capital; in the morning, they check trucks bringing goods to Barta’a market and laborers who opt to go through the checkpoint rather than holes in the fence.

There’s nothing new, as it were, and it’s all a disgrace.