Khi'rabat Ra'adiya: finally connecting to electricity

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Hermesh

Tura-Shaked

Ya'bed-Dotan

Tags:

Seam Zone

Transfer Permits to Israel

Observers:

Marina Banai and Ruti Toval (camera), Translation: Danah Ezekiel Clark

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Sep-18-2022

Morning

A new paved road to Ma'oz Zvi

Photo:

Ruti Tuval

6:00 Barta’a-Reihan checkpoint

Jam-packed doesn’t even begin to describe it: we barely crossed the section between the intersection and the checkpoint. Buses, vans and taxis maneuver at the entrance to the parking lot (seam area side). The passage to the West Bank is completely free, we are in Area C. Further down the road, on the opposite hills, spread the parking lots that yielded a good living for the owners of that land, perhaps they are Zabde residents. They are now blocked by canals and mounds. It seems that they are being prepared for more orderly parking. Cars are parked on both sides of the road up to a distance of almost a kilometer. We are told that the management of the Barta’a checkpoint occasionally hands out citations to those who park by the red and white curb, denying transit and work permits in Israel.

6:20 Ya’abed-Dotan checkpoint

Traffic proceeds without delay. Looks like they cleaned up a bit around the garbage cart. We stayed in the car. A heftily armored military jeep pulled up next to us. "It's not good for you to be here." "We've been here for 15 years, that's fine," we answered. "What’s your deal?" "Machsom Watch". "Ah, give’m hell!" the young officer blithely suggested/commended. On our return to Emricha, we were surprised to find that the road that was broken out for the 17 families in the settlement of Maoz Zvi (Dotan B entrance), is covered by a brand new asphalt strip!! The yellow IDF gate, whose keys are in the hands of the settlers, was locked.

7:00 Hermesh checkpoint

The checkpoint structures have long since become a kind of Tumarkian monument. We hop over there to see if there are any surprises in the field and on the way - we continue to be amazed by the landscapes’ changes from shift to shift.

Returning at the Barta’a checkpoint, we picked up a hitchhiker who had to park his car 600 meters from the checkpoint (we measured). We entered the crowded parking lot. We spoke with the workers who didn't feel like crowding in the transit shed/pen and stay on the side meanwhile, waiting for the commotion to die down. We try to elicit their take on what happens at night in Jenin and its surroundings. "Everything is fine", they reply with a frozen facial expression. We talked about livelihood and hardship. Their daily wage in Israel ranges from NIS 250 for a simple laborer to NIS 500 for a professional laborer.

7:35 Tura-Shaked checkpoint

Moderate traffic at the checkpoint. A group of well-groomed teachers comes from the West Bank. H., a driver from Umm Reihan, approached us: "I can't enter the country," he complains.

"Do you want an entry permit to Israel?"

"No-no. To Ya’abed! To Janine!"

"How can it be?" we ask

"They say I'm letting in people without permits."

Is it his job to check the credentials of his passengers? A strange story.

8:00 - We stop in al-Raadyah. A tiny village, 8 houses that are not connected to the electricity grid. As far as we knew from our acquaintance with the M. family, all the residents installed solar systems at their own expense. Now we discovered a sign saying that the project was financed by the Al-Aqsa Foundation under the supervision of the local council. It is possible that the sign we photographed refers only to the house on whose fence it hangs...

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)