‘Anabta, Deir Sharaf, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Jubara (Kafriat), Thu 17.12.09, Afternoon
14.00
Za’atra – Nobody is stopped. There is a huge sign: “No entrance for Netanyahu’s freeze of construction inspectors”.
14.30
Huwwara – We get out of Nadim’s car. It’s raining and cold. An approaching soldier speaks to us. Other soldiers shout at him telling him to stop talking with us and move us away.
Again the soldiers are shouting. A young driver is forced out of his car and 4 soldiers push him towards the edge of the passage. His eyes are covered and his hands are handcuffed. 3 soldiers push him towards the building below the tower. They enter and then they come out. A car of the border guard arrives, and now they are responsible for the detainee, who is waiting inside and does not see what is happening to him. According to the soldiers they asked for his I.D. card, but “he started to shout and hit a soldier really hard”.
The car is moved to the side. An old man and a young woman are sitting inside. After fifteen minutes they get out of the car telling us that they are from Marda and that everything started when the soldiers shouted in Hebrew and they did not understand what it was all about. Micky calls the District Coordination Office and with the help of our friend Hanna B. she contacts the brigade. They deny the event: “It didn’t happen at all.” We explain that we have photographs documenting everything (Maya has taken pictures, which will be sent separately), and then the line is changed: From the brigade the order to release the handcuffed man is given…this happens after we have left.
15.15
Anabta – There are no soldiers and the traffic is flowing. An army jeep arrives, probably only to demonstrate its presence.
15.30
The Barrel Checkpoint – There are no soldiers.
15.45
Jubara – Workers who have been picking fruit are walking home carrying bags with oranges.
15.50
Irtah – When we arrive the checkpoint is quiet. Few people are on their way home from work and nobody is stopped. The rain is getting heavier. In a few minutes the picture has changed. Because of the rain and since they have no umbrellas people are pushing to stand under the roof at the turnstile, which opens and closes alternately. I want to speak to one of the people in charge but am told to go away. Exactly at the same hour 16.10 the change of guards at Irtah begins. About 20 male and female guards are leaving the sealed terminal and entering the bus, which is waiting for them, while the new guards are arriving. Only one security position is open to the returning workers. Such bad timing. Is there any connection? It is rush hour for everybody. Of course, we call the IDF Humanitarian Center, the DCO etc., but only one security position is open during rush hour. Seeing the workers, who have been waiting at the checkpoint at dawn, who have been working hard for 9 hours and who are tired by now, hungry and wet and pushing each other – is a painful experience.
It is important to bring the media, to photograph and to make their voices heard.
A woman from Baka-el-Jarbia has been waiting for her husband from the territories for an hour. “It’s always like this. They send us from Jubara to Irtah, where he has to pass the checkpoint, but they make him wait for an hour or two even though he has his permit.”
I turn to a guard named Lior, and he makes sure the man is let through within a few minutes.
'Anabta CP
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'Anabta CP
The checkpoint is located south of the village of 'Anabta, at the intersection of Road 60 (leading to Nablus at the entrance to Area A), with Road (57, 557, 5576) facing west towards the Einav settlement and the checkpoint at the exit from the West Bank - Figs checkpoint. Until 2010 we used to watch the intersection and report the long columns created due to a slow inspection of the vehicles in both directions.
Oct-28-2011Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.
Nina SebaFeb-28-2024Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village
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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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Jubara (Kafriat)
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The Jabra checkpoint was on Road 557, south of Tulkarm, on the side of the Figs Pass, which is located within the Palestinian Authority (a few kilometers east of the Green Line), and serves as an entry barrier from the territories to Israel. The checkpoint to the village of Jubara, which until 2013 was in the seam area, blocked and surrounded by a fence, was intended for the passage of the family members of the house next to the checkpoint, and also for the MachsomWatch volunteers (with special permission only), on their way to checkpoint 753. on the other side of the village. The soldiers supervising the "fig crossing" also supervised the crossing at this checkpoint, in our shifts we often waited a long time until the key was found and the gate opened. The checkpoint was abolished and became part of the separation fence that was moved west following the High Court.
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