The wall closes the northern checkpoints

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Tura-Shaked

Tags:

Hitches at checkpoints

Walls and Blockades

Observers:

Tami R. (Photos) and Hannah H. (Report) Marcia L., Translation

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Aug-10-2023

Afternoon

Tura checkpoint - the wall begins to close in on the village

Photo:

Tami Ritov

14:00 – 17:00

Barta’a Checkpoint

On our way to the checkpoint, approaching Barta’a Checkpoint, we see in the distance, the terrifying cement belly of the wall.

At the checkpoint, hundreds of workers return to the West Bank from Israel and the Seamline Zone; they quickly go down the long sleeve info-icon (the enclosed entrance to and from the terminal). Some of them stop at the kiosk and buy cookies and rugelach for Shabbat. One of the workers tells us that he arrived at the checkpoint that morning at 04:30 and went through at 05:15. According to him, this morning, although it was crowded, it was “all right.” However, on Sunday morning, the crowding was terrible. Women and children pass in two directions.

A young man, a man who lays floors and tiles, is allowed to cross only to the Seamline Zone. He was arrested twice in Israel for not having permission. The first time he was warned and the second time he was arrested for two months in Kishon prison. He has been asking for a permit to work in Israel but hasn’t succeeded. We gave him one of the information notes from Sylvia, with the hope that it will help him. We gave that same note to another young man who told us that his brother had fallen victim to an informant (Shabak) and his permit to work in Israel was taken away from him.

Tura Checkpoint

Three young men from the Bedouin encampment at the foot of Anin Checkpoint, arrive via Tura Checkpoint to work in Umm Reihan. On Mondays and Wednesdays, when Anin Checkpoint is open, they cross there and save the long travel time to Tura Checkpoint. Workers return from work in Israel and the Seamline Zone. All those who work in Israel leave in the morning at 06:00 from the distant Barta’a Checkpoint because Tura Checkpoint only opens at 07:15. At least now they can save money and return through Tura. Two young men from Tura complain that the checkpoint closes in the evening at 21:00 and in emergency circumstances, people have to make a very big detour and leave from the distant Barta’a. Next to the checkpoint a line of eight cars and passengers (among them children) who are waiting to cross to the West Bank. Three of them (in the photo) tell us they have already waited 30 minutes and only now they can cross

Here also the wall is built close to residences.

On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 1:19 PM BAR <[email protected]> wrote:

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).