Eyal, Sun 14.10.07, Morning
Eyal check-point
6:30am- A few workmen are crossing for work today, due to the Holiday (Id El Peter). It is calm and there are no complaints.
7:00am- Due to the Holiday very few people are passing through the check-point.
A female soldier with a dog is checking an empty bus thoroughly in the presence of the unhappy driver. The dog is jumping on the seats and sniffing the bus's ceiling.
The soldiers are uncomfortable with our presence so an officer is coming to ask us to leave. An argument is erupted, the police are called but we remain to observe.
The dog handler is wiping the bus's seats while the driver is protesting against the search of his bus.
Due to the reduced activity we decide to leave after a short while.
On Road 57 we are stopped by a few families that were hoping to pick olives on their land. Apparently they were not allowed access to their field because they did not have a permit.
Soldiers in a "Hummer" which is close by tell us that the order is to prevent olive picking in proximity of the settlements, and that the days allocated for picking olives start on the 15/10/07.
We call the Humanitarian center, Naomi, Zachariah, to the Liaison & Coordination Administration but to no avail.
The soldier is arguing with the family that their land is his. He tells them to pick up their belonging and leave. They climb on the tractor to go back home. This puts an end to the celebration of the first olive picking day.
The field owner tells us he had permit for the fenced field near "Shave-Shomron" but didn't get a permit to the field that was farther away.
A person from another family said the announcement at the mosque said today was the beginning of the picking season.
We waited together for a while for a reasonable explanation to be made by the LCA or any other body we have contacted. When such reply didn't come the families decided to go back home as the babies and children were getting restless.
In the background "Hummers" and other army cars were circling around announcing their mighty presence.
Eyal Checkpoint / Crossing
See all reports for this place-
Eyal Checkpoint is intended for pedestrians and Palestinians only. This is the main barrier for workers to cross from the center of the West Bank. Workers with a work permit to enter Israel can pass through it for trade, medicine, and visiting prisoners. The checkpoint was built on the Green Line north of Qalqilya in the separation barrier that surrounds the city. The checkpoint began operating in 2004 by the military. Opening hours on weekdays from 04:00 to 19:00. We started holding shifts there in 2007. We arrived at the checkpoint before it opened at 4 in the morning. We reported on the difficult conditions and the long and cramped queues of workers who must continue their journey by commuting to work throughout Israel. At the end of June 2009, the checkpoint was operated by a civil security company, The transit time has been gradually shortened, today it is faster, but the Palestinians still have to arrive very early to make it to the transportation. Usually, about 15,000 people pass through.
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