A short visit to Tura checkpoint, Barta'a checkpoint and a stroll in the Shaked settlement

Place:

Barta'a-Reihan

Tura-Shaked

Observers:

Marina Banai and Ruti Tuval (reporting and photographing) Trans. Judith Green

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Nov-28-2021

Afternoon

Traffic light at Tura Checkpoint

Photo:

Ruti Tuval

Traffic light at Tura checkpoint to regulate the heavy traffic

The school at Daher al-Malach

Photo:

Ruti Tuval

Barta'a checkpoint pen

Photo:

Ruti Tuval

Where do you study such architecture?

Evening descends on Barta'a checkpoint

Photo:

Ruti Tuval

We decided to depart from our habit this time and, at the same time, to satisfy an old curiosity. We wandered around in the settlement of Shaked, which we are accustomed to observe from the western part of the Tura checkpoint. The gate was open and the man serving there didn't ask us any questions. We "wasted" about an hour there, as well as the gas coming and going. We saw the "housing culture" in the extensions in every direction, including a new extension in the direction of Daher al-Malah. We saw the amazing landscapes spreading eastward, southward, and westward. We helped a woman find her 2 boxer dogs which we had seen earlier. We tried to get to a place called "the ethnic village 'moments of mercy'" which had jumped out at us on the map, at the edge of the industrial part Shachak (Shaked-Chinanit-Katzir), but we couldn't find it. A short visit to Daher al-Malah, from the eastern side (the part that almost reaches Shaked). Afterward, a brief visit at the Tura checkpoint, where we are already tired of talking about the filth and the absurd silence which surrounds the place. Afterward, we traveled to the checkpoint at Barta'a. We parked on the Palestinian side, where there is now plenty of room. We met people returning at the evening hour from their work in Israel to the west bank on a long, long trail. No one came to us with requests, no one complained, no one was angry. They only welcomed us with "Salamat!". In the end, we gave some "Hanukkah gelt" to the little coffee sellers who accompanied us with smiles all the way to the car.

We never stop being amazed at this piece of land, one of the most beautiful in the whole country, and never stop being pained at the wounds which the horrendous checkpoints inflict, the brutal separation fence and the megalomaniac settlements.

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).