Who ordered to close the car parks opposite the checkpoint?
A short vigil (one hour) brought us first to the Barta’a Checkpoint. We came after most people had already crossed, although pedestrians and vehicles were still streaming to and from the West Bank to and from the Seam Zone and Israel. Talking with people about the closed car parks below Zebda, we receive a clearer picture – a dim one – about the running of the checkpoint. We fear that people buy as it were various ‘rights’ under the table.
A resident of Ya’abad who makes his living driving people between Jenin city and this checkpoint told us that he is blacklisted by the Security Services for 102 years and has no idea why, and he is not the only one in his family. While talking we learned that a relative of his blew up with an explosive charge in Hadera several years ago, and that is probably the reason for this sweeping blacklisting of most family members. We gave him the note with Sylvia’s numbers, if this problem is to be solved at all. People have been asking about our friend Anna who has not been out to the checkpoints for some years now, but she has made a great impression.
We arrived at the agricultural checkpoint Anin at 7 a.m., crossing had already begun. Several people made extra mention that today’s soldiers were fine, not like last time. Since the breaches in the fence have been closed, the Civil Administration has been issuing many work permits and the number of people wishing to cross the checkpoints has grown greatly. Our general estimate is that this morning over 100 people crossed, three of them women, one of whom is widow Rahme, who picks her olives alone. These are situated far down the next hill. She sends her warm regards to Aliya.
At the entrance to the checkpoint access road, many are waiting for transport or contractors looking for day workers. A regular “workers’ market”.
The gentle weather and the fact that we meet energetic people, mostly young ones, who have a job and a purpose in life – definitely inspire a positive atmosphere. But under a very thin cover of reality, military occupation is seen in all its ugliness.
We drove back through Israeli Barta’a in order to show our guest another of the Seam Zone absurdities, opening wide the state’s western order with the West Bank for anyone wishing to get to Israel. Namely, whoever manages to cross over to Eastern Barta’a** is well on his way to Israel.
We got on our way home at 7:30.
In the photo: east of Barta’a Checkpoint, below the large Palestinian community of Zabde, private car parks have been closed. The photo shows the white empty dirt areas between the road and the high building at the edge of the hill, and there are car parks on the other side of the road as well. So people must park alongside the road in a very long line, over a kilometer from the checkpoint, and walk to it. The million dollar question: Who gave the order to close down the car parks and why? Many told us thay they know who, and why…
'Anin checkpoint (214)
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'Anin checkpoint (214)
'Anin checkpoint is located on the Separation Fence east of the Israeli community Mei Ami and close to the village of Anin in the West Bank. It is opened twice a week, morning and afternoon, on days with shorter light time, for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence it became difficult to cultivate their land. Transit permits are only issued to those who can produce ownership documents for their caged-in land, and sometimes only to the head of the family or his widow, eldest son, and children. Sometimes the inheritors lose their right to tend to the family’s land. The permits are eked out and are re-issued only with difficulty. 55-year-old persons may cross the checkpoint (into Israel) without special permits. During the olive harvest season (about one month around October) the checkpoint is open daily and more transit permits are issued. Names of persons eligible to cross are held in the soldiers’ computers. In July 2007, a sweeping instruction was issued, stating that whoever does not return to the village through this checkpoint in the afternoon will be stripped of his transit permit when he shows up there next time. Since 2019, the checkpoint has not been allways locked with the seam-line zone gate (1 of 3 gates), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.
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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).
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