Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Fri 10.12.10, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
On the way to the roadblock: there is a dreadful road accident at the Kfar HaYarok junction, a lot of police and ZAKA.
South of Jaljulya, at the side of the road, there is a small bonfire which, due to our short term historical memory, forces us to dial 102 for the fire service and also forces the firemen to check it out and put it out. On the way back there is another bad traffic accident.
Irtach
At the roadblock, as per usual on a Friday, there are less people. We hear permanent complaint about the over use of the rooms, particularly on Fridays when there is one lane less, which is incomprehensible to everyone (as if there is an explanation): why are people who hold permanent permits inspected every day in a room. We stand for a long time by the exit gate and talk with those waiting for their work colleagues. There are stories of hard lives, a conversation about the situation, about leaders and particularly about hardship and helplessness. They voice their despair about their situation and their disbelief in the likelihood of change.
And all this in the shadow of the Human Rights evening yesterday at the cinematek which is still alive and kicking in our minds.
How does one get out of this?
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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