‘Anabta, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Sun 17.1.10, Afternoon
Anabta Checkpoint 16:30
Jeep and soldiers present at the exiting vehicles checking post.
Yrtah Checkpoint 16:37
Hundreds of workers stand stuck outside the entry turnstile after a hard day’s work in Israel. We complain to the army hotline, who promise to take care of things. More and more vans arrive and huge numbers of workers disembark, the crowd crushes against the turnstile and already fills the entire walkway and back into the parking lot.
For long moments this throng is completely static, no motion whatsoever.
At 16:45 even the outside gate of the entire compound is locked. We speak again with the army hotline, a friendly-voiced woman soldier tells she has just called and yelled at ‘them’ (checkpoint staff) and promised to do so again immediately. Two minutes later the gates open wide and the entire throng flows in, an endless stream of workers heavily laden, running as fast as they can towards the turnstile in fear that it will be shut yet again.
We left at 17:20.
'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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