Barta`a checkpoint: the difficult events in Jenin were not visible at this checkpoint

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Tura-Shaked

Tags:

Seam Zone

Observers:

Tami R. and Hannah H. Marcia L, Translation

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Jan-26-2023

Afternoon

a seamstress returns from her work in Barta`a

Photo:

Hanna Heller

15:20 – 16:40

Barta’a Checkpoint

Hundreds of workers are returning from work in Israel and the Seamline Zone. Many tell us about the morning situation that differs from day to day; sometimes, the passage is fast, and at other times they are delayed in line for up to an hour or two. One of those who crossed through sent us a video that describes the morning condition. A few seamstresses who shopped in Barta’a, where they work, return to the West Bank with baskets.

The terrible events that occurred at night and in the morning in Jenin are not alien to this checkpoint.

Tura Checkpoint

Three women and two families with children return from Jenin and Ya’bed to their homes in the Seamline Zone. They tell us that Jenin is locked down today, apparently from 07:30, as is the Jalama Checkpoint. Workers return from Israel and the Seamline Zone and tell us that the checkpoint was open this morning at 07:00 and was “OK.” Other workers leave from the West Bank to the Seamline Zone to work the second shift at Shahak (The industrial area in the Seamline Zone). Cars pass in two directions.

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).