Deir Sharaf, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Jubara (Kafriat), Thu 10.12.09, Afternoon
Translator: Louise L.
Human Rights Day
Question: Have Physicians for Human Rights given their response regarding the way inspections are performed in the “closed rooms” at the checkpoints?
An army jeep with a flickering light on its roof overtakes us on road 60 towards the Burin junction.
13.10
At the turn to Havat Gilad an army vehicle is parking next to the road.
13.20
The Barrel Checkpoint – No vehicles are being stopped in either direction.
13.25Anabta – No vehicles are being stopped for checking.
13.35
Jubara – A large number of vehicles are being checked on their entrance to Israel.
13.40
Irtah – The checkpoint is not crowded. The workers are returning home for the weekend.Again the Palestinians raise the problem of having to wait for the checking in the morning and being late for their transportation. They miss workdays even when they reach the checkpoint very early. One man tells us that 30 workers were put into a “room”, where they were crowded together and forgotten. They just could not stand waiting any longer, so he hit the door hard, until somebody remembered to check them. Of course he was punished. He missed a workday. Actually he did not really regret missing a day of work, “but they treat us like animals”, he said.
We complained to HaMoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual about the humiliating treatment of the workers at the checkpoint. We were told that when the workers return from work on Friday, it is impossible to let them through as on every other day – they are told to wait under a roof until a group of 30-40 people have gathered and only then are they let in for checking. (In order to cut down the number of guards on Friday?) They asked us to come and look.
A girl is passing the checkpoint with her father and brother. She is wearing a golden paper crown with a spinning top on her head …for Channuka. They are coming back from a medical checkup at the hospital where such crowns were given to the children to celebrate the holiday. We will send a picture.
14.37
Eyal – The checkpoint is not crowded.
Deir Sharaf checkpoint
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.
Nina SebaFeb-28-2024Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village
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Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
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The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel. Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners. One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays. As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007. We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel. In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation. Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m. In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.
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Jubara (Kafriat)
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The Jabra checkpoint was on Road 557, south of Tulkarm, on the side of the Figs Pass, which is located within the Palestinian Authority (a few kilometers east of the Green Line), and serves as an entry barrier from the territories to Israel. The checkpoint to the village of Jubara, which until 2013 was in the seam area, blocked and surrounded by a fence, was intended for the passage of the family members of the house next to the checkpoint, and also for the MachsomWatch volunteers (with special permission only), on their way to checkpoint 753. on the other side of the village. The soldiers supervising the "fig crossing" also supervised the crossing at this checkpoint, in our shifts we often waited a long time until the key was found and the gate opened. The checkpoint was abolished and became part of the separation fence that was moved west following the High Court.
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