Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)
A lot of rain and fewer workers.
4:00 At the entrance to the facility. The gates opens as usual, on time. Evidently because of the rain, the guards allow more people in at a time, so that they can squeeze in under the roof that partially extends into the area in front of the building. No one tries to jump the line. No progress can be seen on the new construction on the Palestinian side of the turnstiles.
4:15 Dozens of people have already gotten through, and are crowded into the comparatively small roofed area. The speed of passage seems reasonable. When we ask the people about bus service, we are told that most of them have transportation supplied by their employers, both to work in the morning and back to the checkpoint in the afternoon. They don't take buses. One man requests help: is it possible to get him permission to cross at Bartaa instead of Irtach? He lives in Jenin, and it's a long and expensive trip for him to get to his assigned checkpoint. If anyone who reads this knows a way to help, I have his contact information.
The rain pours down. Many people who passed through security choose to stay in the building, because there is limited shelter beyond it. We think about the people waiting on the other side, where there is no shelter at all, in the downpour.
4:45 We return to the entrance side. There is no pressure, no line. The turnstiles are open and everyone who arrives goes immediately into the building. Because of the rain many people who are employed in agriculture or building didn't go to work.
We are told that last Sunday the pressure, crowding and line-jumping were so bad that they knocked down the cement blocks that are supposed to control the crowd.
5:00 We left
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.
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