Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Sun 17.2.13, Morning
Efraim gate (Irtach),
04:05 We arrive at the checkpoint (sorry – “the crossing,” as the official newspeak now calls it). As we walk to the compound we see many women coming out. That means the women’s gate had been open, but it was already closed when we reached it and the women who arrived late stood in the regular line (remember, the checkpoint manager said he doesn’t have the budget to keep the women’s gate open for more than ten minutes when the checkpoint opens!). We meet the representatives of the Ecumenical mission, as usual; a new group, inexperienced and flabbergasted at what goes on. The line seems less congested than usual for a Sunday; there’s a hubbub of conversations, not shouts. It’s apparently because of the rain preventing the farmers from working in their fields. There aren’t any holes today in the fence at the entrance to the lane.
04:15 We move to the entry to Israel. A man asks for a phone number to call to get help for someone who’s blacklisted. We gave him Sylvia’s number… Another man says that on Friday, in addition to the fact that the checkpoint opens an hour later, fewer booths are open; they open and close intermittently making people who’ve already waited move from one to the other. The general opinion of those crowding under the canopy because of the rain is that the Efraim gate is worse than the one at Eyal.
Someone’s seated behind Window 14 talking on the phone, and no one goes through there for ten minutes.
A man who’d been given a chit by the Ecumenicals at 04:15 comes through at 04:33 – that is, it took him about half an hour (including time waiting in line before entering the building).
To sum up the morning, here’s what one of the laborers has to say: You’ve been active here now for ten years, and not much has changed. What good are you? And we really felt helpless…
05:00 We left.
04:05 We arrive at the checkpoint (sorry – “the crossing,” as the official newspeak now calls it). As we walk to the compound we see many women coming out. That means the women’s gate had been open, but it was already closed when we reached it and the women who arrived late stood in the regular line (remember, the checkpoint manager said he doesn’t have the budget to keep the women’s gate open for more than ten minutes when the checkpoint opens!). We meet the representatives of the Ecumenical mission, as usual; a new group, inexperienced and flabbergasted at what goes on. The line seems less congested than usual for a Sunday; there’s a hubbub of conversations, not shouts. It’s apparently because of the rain preventing the farmers from working in their fields. There aren’t any holes today in the fence at the entrance to the lane.
04:15 We move to the entry to Israel. A man asks for a phone number to call to get help for someone who’s blacklisted. We gave him Sylvia’s number… Another man says that on Friday, in addition to the fact that the checkpoint opens an hour later, fewer booths are open; they open and close intermittently making people who’ve already waited move from one to the other. The general opinion of those crowding under the canopy because of the rain is that the Efraim gate is worse than the one at Eyal.
Someone’s seated behind Window 14 talking on the phone, and no one goes through there for ten minutes.
A man who’d been given a chit by the Ecumenicals at 04:15 comes through at 04:33 – that is, it took him about half an hour (including time waiting in line before entering the building).
To sum up the morning, here’s what one of the laborers has to say: You’ve been active here now for ten years, and not much has changed. What good are you? And we really felt helpless…
05:00 We left.
Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
See all reports for this place-
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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