Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Tura-Shaked

Ya'bed-Dotan

Observers:

Marina Banai and Ruthi Tuval (reporting). Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham

Leave this field blank

Aug-28-2018

Afternoon

בדרך למחסום יעבד ילדים מנפצים חלון של רכב פלסטיני

Photo:

Ruthy Tuval

15:15 – Yaabed-Dotan Checkpoint

Traffic was moving without delay. A lieutenant who arrived in an army jeep refused to let us stand and observe in our usual place. I refused to obey him, but Ruthi walked with him to our car, which was parked south of the junction, where she gave him her ID card. He notified someone of her name by phone. She will be flying abroad in a few days. Will she be put on their list?

On our way to Emricha we stopped by the road that had no shoulders to see why a Palestinian car was parked on the side behind an army jeep. When we got there, a man, a woman, and a teenage girl got out of the car, looking shocked and confused. Evidently a rock had been thrown at their car and shattered the windshield. They managed to spot a group of boys running into the nearby olive grove. The soldiers, for whom the rock had been intended, gave chase. We did not stay to see what had happened.

15:45 – Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint

We made our way with difficulty through the parking lot, which was crowded with cars and taxis until we reached the new entrance to the terminal. A., the vendor who claimed that his ID card was confiscated by the director of the checkpoint last week, said he has not gotten it back yet.

16:30 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint

There was a lot of traffic of families, who were dressed up and traveling from Tura to a wedding in Um A Reihan. A small van was driving people back and forth. We saw that a line in front of the turnstile on the other side was not moving, and no one was coming out. We tried to find out what was going on. An insolent woman soldier asked: “Tell me, is this checkpoint yours or mine?”

When things began moving again a young man reported: “Whenever there’s a celebration, they make trouble. They don’t like to see us happy.”

People who have a permit to cross at this “fabric of life” checkpoint must be back by 19:00. Whoever is late must drive all the way to Barta’a Reihan Checkpoint. For a special occasion, people get special permits from the District Coordination and Liaison Administration, allowing them to return by 22:30. How generous of them.

Location Description

Tura-Shaked Checkpoint

See all reports for this place

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

View the full album

Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint

See all reports for this place

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

See all reports for this place

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)