Barta'a checkpoint: heavy crowding at opening

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Hermesh

Tura-Shaked

Ya'bed-Dotan

Tags:

Crowding

House Demolition

Observers:

Rachel Weizman and Ruthi Tuval Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham

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Jul-26-2022

Morning

checkpoint Barta`a: all parking lots on the eastern side are full

Photo:

RUTI T

Ya`abed checkpoint: bulldozers on their way to demolishing houses

Photo:

Ruti Tuval

Several videos began to arrive at 05:21 in the morning from Barta’a Checkpoint, along with a voice message that stated: “Today the checkpoint is completely full, nothing is working.” We called the checkpoint operators and spoke to someone who said: “What’s happening here? I’m not playing with s***!” and hung up. At 06:48 H.A. announced that he had finally crossed. “It took me an hour and five minutes. After we spoke they opened another inspection window.”

06:45 – Barta’a – Reihan Checkpoint – All the parking lots were full. Lots of workers who had already crossed through the checkpoint were waiting for rides to work, and the sleeve info-icon leading from the checkpoint was also crowded with people.

07:00 – Hermesh Checkpoint - Nothing was new here. The checkpoint was completely deserted – a sore spot in the lovely panorama.

07:08 – Yaabed – Dotan Checkpoint - Traffic was moving slowly alongside army vehicles and heavy machinery that were preparing to enter Area A. One soldier explained to us jokingly that they were going to move a tent. Afterwards we heard on the radio that last night the army had demolished houses belonging to terrorists.

08:00 – We returned to Barta’a – Reihan Checkpoint. Meanwhile the seamline zone of the checkpoint had emptied out and all the workers had been picked up for work.

08:15 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint – A few workers were waiting for rides.

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)