Eyal Crossing, ‘Anabta, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Jubara (Kafriat), Tue 22.9.09, Afternoon
Last day of ‘Eid el Fitr: Light traffic of Palestinians coming back from work. The roads to Anabta are crowded with Israeli Arabs shopping in Palestine and/or visiting relatives. At Irtach, Palestinians visiting Israel for the holiday are delayed. “It’s a racist state, it’s a racist state,” a driver yelled to us at the Eyal crossing.
15:00(about) Irtach.
A new canopy for shade has been placed near the entry turnstile. Very few laborers returning from work. A number of Israeli Arabs are waiting at the entrance with their children for relatives coming to join them for the concluding holiday dinner. The man from Nazareth says that he’s been waiting three hours for his wife’s parents from Tulkarm. He came to bring them to his house. They’re standing in the sun on the other side, and aren’t being allowed through. There’s no one to ask. The inspection booths are empty, and only at the far end is someone sitting at a computer checking those coming in. We can’t see the armed sentries up above either. Reba calls the DCO, but meanwhile the relatives slowly exit. They say that more people are waiting. It’s already 16:40. According to the permit, the man from Nazareth has to bring his in-laws back by 19:00. How long will they have to visit?
A merchant from Jiftlik complains and asks us to help him obtain a “3-month permit, like at Huwwara, at Jenin, and not only for one month.” Every month he must pay to renew it, and loses money.
15:50 Jubara.
A very long line of some 30 cars stretches from Palestine to Israel. All belong to Israeli Arabs who shopped or visited relatives and are now returning. The road to Anabta is livelier than ever. Israeli Arabs can enter cities in Area A, and that opened up opportunities.
16:00 Anabta.
Traffic flows, to Tulkarm in particular – a flow of cars with yellow license plates enters without being delayed, nor are there delays on the way out.
16:15 Back to Jubara. A long, long line of about 40 cars at the exit to Israel. They wait obediently in a single line. We see some who bypass the line. The young girl peddler moving among the cars comes over to our window and says, “Intu Yahud, ruhu l’hunak;” You’re Jews, get over there!.
A driver waiting on line grins at us and says, in an Arabic accent, “Pass them, pass them. Jews are allowed to, that’s how it is at the checkpoints”! We go past, and the soldiers don’t say anything.
16:30 Eyal crossing.
Few laborers returning.
A family with six children, in holiday attire, comes out of the checkpoint to Taiybe. The father tells us that they arrived three hours ago from Habala, but he didn’t have his children’s birth certificates. Even though they’re all listed in their parents’ ID cards, they had to go back to Habala and get the birth certificates. The children were crying and afraid of the soldiers; that’s how they’re on their way to celebrate.
The driver of a jalopy full of passengers comes over to us in the parking lot. He’s seething with anger. Yesterday he called the DCO to ask whether he could bring his family from East Jerusalem to Taiybe via Jabara. The family members have blue and green ID cards. He was told he could go through, but today, when he arrived (and of course waited patiently in the long line) he was told to return and go through the Eyal crossing. “It’s a racist state, it’s a racist state”! he yelled, “I just wasted an hour and a half having to go around”!
'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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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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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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