Reihan, Tue 15.4.08, Morning

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Tami S., Hasida S. (reporting)

15/04/2008

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בוקר

Translation: Devorah K.

Today we skipped visiting the Shaked (Tura) CP, because we were asked to go to court to observe the case of Amal Harsha of the village of Kafin. Reportedly he is a diabetic and was very sick the last time he's been brought to court.

Reihan CP 07:30 - 08:40

When we arrived at the lower parking lot, we sensed the tense atmosphere. For several days we have been reading reports saying that at this CP there has been a significant decrease in the number of vehicles waiting to transport goods to the Barta'a markets. The tension is related to the uncertainty surrounding the death of a resident of Kabatiyeh, who had a shop in Barta'a. Apparently the drivers from Barta'a are afraid of revenge and take care not to drive into the area of the Palestinian Authority. Pedestrian traffic is as usual, with steady traffic in both directions. A new inspection machine, working by means of radio waves, is being operated in the terminal, as we heard from Ron, the man responsible for running the facility. No longer is there inspection in the rooms, nor do the people have to take off their clothes or their belts. The passage is quicker and easier. But still we heard complaints. There is a rumor that this machine causes cancer, and there are people who are afraid to go through it. There were also complaints that those operating the machine do not really know how to work it, and so it takes a long time. Some told us that they went through in ten minutes, and indeed there were a few whom we saw entering and then saw emerge after a short time. By contrast, there were some who claimed that they were detained for an hour in the terminal. When we approached the terminal from the side of the sleeve info-icon

, we saw that only one post was open, and inside there was a queue and a lot of yelling. We talked to Ron, and he promised to open an additional post when there was a need.
We must note the water fountainth at at the exit from the terminal into the sleeve . It actually works and many use it.

Rest rooms: In the lower (Palestinian parking lot) there are still no toilets. Of the three cubicles near the upper parking lot, two are locked. The third is open and has running water. Toilet paper is apparently a luxury. The place is reasonably clean.

To the best of my memory from the construction, there are also restrooms near the lower entrance to the terminal, but I do not know if the people going through have access to them.

If only this terminal were the recognized border between two states - Israel and Palestine - the improvements would have been accepted gladly. Unfortunately, that is not the situation.

תיאור המקום

Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint

להצגת כל הדוחות ממקום זה

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).