Eyal checkpoint, Azzun. First you pay, then you'll get permission to work
05:15 Qalqilya checkpoint
20,000 workers cross to Israel on Sunday. Workers are flowing past the stands set up in the morning. Both sides of the road are lined with sellers of baked goods, pitas, pizzas, cigarettes, coffee and anything that can be sold in the morning. Everything goes fluidly and quickly.
We spoke with the workers:
The serious and frustrating problem is how much they must pay the employer for their job in Israel: NIS 2500 – 3000 for workers who aren’t hired directly by the employer.
A young man, a certified high-tension electrician, told us soldiers enter Qalqilya nightly, come into the streets, the homes, observe from rooftops, sometimes they throw grenades into the street in response to stone throwing. A cat-and-mouse game that neither the children nor the soldiers can refrain from engaging in. And other damage caused by the occupation: if you don’t have a car it’s difficult to get from place to place.
In general, despite the large crowds, there was a calm atmosphere of business as usual. The line moved quickly. I also spoke with people keeping order within who said the Israeli side is very crowded because the buses are delayed.
This time we noticed that when driving north from Route 55, there is a checkpoint where ordinary Israelis can not reach Zufin. The checkpoint is open only to residents of Zufin.
'Azzun
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Azoun (updated February 2019)
A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),
on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.
Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.
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Eyal Checkpoint / Crossing
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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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