Northern Checkpoints: “Am I at risk, crossing through the holes in the fence?”
Eastern Barta’a Junction 6 a.m.
For the past two years we were reporting routine as it were, whereby crossing takes place at the Barta’a checkpoint. Now we can report a routine by which workers pass through holes in the Separation Fence. Along road 611, from eastern Barta’a northward, there are three active holes to which workers from the West Bank arrive in cabs every morning. After crossing unhampered and then crossing the security track, they arrive at Barta’a Junction either on foot or in vans that pick them up directly from the holes in the fence. Workers who have work in Israel or are in search of work there ride from the junction in buses, minibuses, cabs and contractors’ vans to various work places in Israel.
Anin Checkpoint 6:20 a.m.
The checkpoint has been opened for five minutes already, but only one tractor has passed. Others will pass or have passed already in their own good time, through the holes in the fence. The person who did cross at the checkpoint is a man who works regularly in Jenin and once a month he goes with his tractor to work in his own olive tree grove in the seamline zone, and is presently preparing it for the harvest coming up, telling us that this year the harvest will not be so plentiful.
Toura Checkpoint 6:45 a.m.
On our way we met people who have already crossed through the hole in the fence, for the checkpoint itself is still closed. Opening time now is 7 a.m. all weekdays (the checkpoint used to open Sunday through Wednesdays at 6:30). The soldiers came exactly at 7 but it took them 10 minutes to get organized. Cars cross in both directions, and pedestrians who waited patiently are only beginning to cross now. One of the women (a seamstress) asked us whether crossing through the hole in the fence might risk her livelihood? According to the way the Israeli army is conducting itself right now, it is not likely that any measures are taken.
Barta’a Checkpoint 7:30
Even at this late hour, not many people cross, and those who do all work in the seamline zone. The carparks are partially filled and the snack bar only serves the checkpoint staff.
Eastern Barta’a Junction 7:40
The junction is emptied of workers, buses and vans, only one coffee stand is left. Workers are still arriving at the junction from the West bank (they have crossed through holes in the fence) and some of them continue to Barta’a.
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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East Barta'a Junction
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East Barta'a Junction
The main station at the eastern Barta'a junction (Roads 611/6115).
A junction without special activities became about April 2020 a bustling center of transportation to workplaces in Israel, following the free passage through loopholes in the nearby separation fence.
Palestinian workers from all over the West Bank gather here every morning, without transit permits and often without masks. The army is turning a blind eye and the occupation is losing control.
There is also no shortage of coffee and pastry stalls.
Hagar DrorSep-26-2023Barta'a: rapid construction of the separation fence
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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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