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Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)

Place: Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
Tags: Crowding
Observers: Edith M. (English), Varda Z. (Hebrew)
Dec-23-2014
| Morning

 3:57 When we arrive, a guard greets us cheerfully. We notice a set of tall poles that were put up next to the (still unopened) parking lot, and we ask the guard what they are. There's going to be a covered area for the workers' morning prayers, he says, see how we invest in their well-being? He finishes the discussion with hopes for peace; we agree.

 4:01 The gates open. The flow of people is smooth, no pressure. The construction site beyond the fence shows progress: A set of metal pillars have gone up, and about half of them are topped with arches. We go to the other side and time a worker's passage at ten minutes. We see a lot of smiling faces.

 4:12 The exit turnstile shuts down for half a minute.

 4:22-4:25 Back observing the entrance, we see a man climbing over the barbed wire to get to the head of the line. A few minutes later, another one does the same. However, we are accustomed to seeing much worse. We hear a few complaints about crowding, but again we are accustomed to worse.

 4:27 The entry turnstiles shut down for about five minutes (why?). When they open again, the loudspeaker asks the workers to proceed one by one "wachad wachad, shukrun." This is the first time we've heard anyone say thank you.

 4:33 Back to the exit side: We time a man's passage at seven minutes. Really quick.

Not all faces we meet now are bright. They say: Nothing has fundamentally changed. Our situation is still bad.

 

4:45 We leave.

  • 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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