‘Anabta, Irtah, Jubara (Kafriat), Sun 9.11.08, Morning
Translation: Galia S.
Irtah checkpoint
06:55 – Employers' vehicles can be seen parked at a relatively great distance from the gate and the parking lot, and the area around it is teeming with people. We go on to the turnstile and see over 50 people waiting there and more people keep coming.
The turnstile opens three minutes after we arrive and about 100 people pass. Three minutes later the turnstile opens again and this time only 10 workers pass while many others, scores of them, still stand crowded near the turnstile. We park our car and ask those who pass the reason for the congestion. One of the workers says that only two out of three inspection lanes are open and only five out of fourteen posts operate.
One employer says he has been waiting for a worker for 2 hours already. We ask more questions and he answers that the place is that crowded on Monday and Tuesday, too. We ask to talk to the head of the facility and he comes out and explains that a technical failure in the inspection system has caused the delay. In addition to that, the number of workers that pass the checkpoint is much higher on account of the citrus fruit and the olive picking – between 3000 to 3500 people a day.
He claims that the checkpoint opens at 04:30 although the employers pick them up starting at 06:00. It seems, then, that waiting for the employers is the major cause of frustration, yet it is easier to lay the blame on the inspection at the checkpoint. He refuses to answer the question regarding the number of operating inspection posts, admitting, however, that budget restrictions don't enable optimal operation… Answering yet another question we have, he says that the staff is reinforced on Sundays. He stresses the fact that the people who pass the checkpoint are treated better and with more courtesy than in certain international airports and that the staff is especially trained aiming to improve the treatment.
Jubara
07:30 – Empty in both directions. We don't enter Ar-Ras, but at the entrance to the village, in front of the gate, we see an automatic barrier and traffic lights.
Anabta
07:45 – In both directions there are no lines and the traffic is streaming.
We go on to Beit Iba. On our way back we see that at Jubara checkpoint there is no separation line and only one lane is open.
'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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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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