Tora-Shaked checkpoint: a mentally ill Palestinian was shot on suspicion of trying to attack soldiers

Place:

'Anin

Barta'a-Reihan

Tura-Shaked

Tags:

Border Police

Seam Zone

Soldiers at checkpoints

Walls and Blockades

Observers:

Marina Banai and Ruthi Tuval Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham

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May-22-2023

Afternoon

A view from above on the Aanin checkpoint

Photo:

Marina Banai

Waiting at the Aanin checkpoint for the gates to open

Convoy at the Tura-Shaked checkpoint

A section of the separation wall coming from the direction of Umm Al Fahm

Photo:

Marina Banai

North 22.05.2023

Marina Banai and Ruthi Tuval

Translation: Bracha Ben-Avraham

From Y Net 13/5/23:

There was an attempted terrorist attack in the midst of the “Shield and Arrow” Campaign in Gaza. The attempted stabbing took place near the Tura Shaked Checkpoint that is adjacent to the settlement of Shaked. The terrorist, who was armed with a knife, was shot when he attempted to stab the soldiers who were present on Saturday, May 13^th. It appears that the terrorist arrived at the checkpoint on a bicycle and ran towards the soldiers with a knife. He was then shot and killed. There were no other casualties.

The border patrol reported that “During the activity at crossing 300 in the sector of Merhavit Menashe the suspect ran towards the soldiers with a knife . The soldiers then opened fire and killed him. There were no injuries to our soldiers.”

Tura Shaked Checkpoint, which we visit on a weekly basis, is an extremely well-equipped checkpoint that is quiet and dirty. Two days after the event we were told by S., an acquaintance, that the man

who was shot was mentally ill. Today we received information that everyone in Yaabed knew that he was abnormal. He also said that since the border patrol had been in charge at the checkpoint women and children were afraid to cross there. The soldiers behave horribly, and before they arrived things were OK and “the soldiers spoke nicely.”

Later at the Barta’a Checkpoint a relative of the man who was killed told us that his father, brothers, and two cousins received a message abut an hour after they learned he had been killed that their crossing permits were no longer valid. Instead of compensating them for the injustice that had been done (Did he have to be killed immediately?) they have now been denied the right to go to work and earn a living for their families. They don’t know who is responsible for cancelling their permits – the police or the general security forces. They were unable to find out.

At 15:00 before our shift began at A’anin checkpoint we drove up the hill to the “Barakim” army outpost with its tall antennas and looked out over the north West Bank. It was a hot dusty day and we looked out at the separation wall that extends the length of the fence from Um al Fahem.

15:30 A’anin Checkpoint

About 100 workers were already waiting. A tractor with a loaded wagon was parked directly opposite the gate. Someone complained that the checkpoint only opens twice a week, and on the other days it takes him two hours to drive to his field that is located on the other side of the checkpoint in the seamline zone. Suddenly an army vehicle arrived and soldiers told the people excitedly that they have to move away from the gate because there is activity going on. The tractor was allowed to drive through. At 15:40 they began to let the people cross in groups of five and then in groups of four. A woman soldier ordered the people to move back and shamelessly pushed the people back from the gate.

Meanwhile we spoke with Mahmoud who sadly showed us pictures of his son, an officer in the Palestinian police who was killed in a fight with drug dealers. The checkpoint was manned by soldiers from the artillery corps. We spoke with their pleasant platoon commander. He explained that regulations had been changed and that the soldiers guarding the fence day and night at the checkpoint are responsible for opening it, but they are not allowed to open the checkpoint for anyone returning from work early. They have to bring reinforcements in order to open the gate.

16:15 – Tura – Shaked Checkpoint

There were also new regulations here. Drivers were no longer permitted to wait next to the gate with the stoplight inside the checkpoint. Instead, the waited impatiently a few meters in front of the main gate. Two soldiers from the border patrol approached us and warned us not to get close to the checkpoint. Four cars were waiting to enter and one of the soldiers would signal them to enter. Luckily, there is also a stoplight…

16:45 – Barta’a – Reihan Checkpoint

We were pleased to meet our friend B. from A’arka. He has been working in the Shahak Industrial Zone for many years directly opposite his home on the other side of the separation barrier. He is, as usual, smiling despite the fact that he is no longer entitled to work extra hours and is no longer compensated for missed work days that were his fault. His standard of living is now lower, but he is pleased to be able to earn a living. We also spoke to him about the man who had been killed at the Tura Checkpoint. Many workers continued to arrive and walk down the long sleeve info-icon on their way to their homes in the West Bank.

Location Description

Anin agricultural checkpoint

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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, for periods of time that are growing shorter Lith time. It is meant for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence. 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. At times 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 every day 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 according to which 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 info-icon ), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.

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).