Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)
Dawn. Calm.
4:02 The gates opened before we got there. The crowd flowed without pressure. People smiled as they came out. Two men we watched for got out in 10-15 minutes.
4:22 The turnstiles closed for two minutes, opened for a minute, closed for a few minutes more. A crowd began to collect, waiting in line.
4:30 At the exit – two women we were watching for got through in four minutes, men took six-eight minutes.
4:45 There’s no line waiting at all, people walk in as soon as they arrive. However, processing time within the checkpoint has lengthened, up to 18 minutes.
5:10 The gates closed. A man was sent back. When we asked he said he had a permit, but was told he’s on a security blacklist; he doesn’t know why. We didn’t delay him to discuss it further, because it was clear that everyone else was waiting for him to go back through the turnstile.
People we watched for got through in 7 – 10 minutes.
A young man approached us, speaking English, and asked what we were doing there. When we explained he told us about himself. He has a degree in accounting, but if he were to work professionally in Palestine he would only earn 2000 shekels a month. He chose instead to be a laborer in Israel, where he earns 300 shekels a day.
Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
See all reports for this place-
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.
-