Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)
General Workers' Strike!
At 4:30, S. called me from the checkpoint and said, "Come! There's a strike!" I thought about who I could wake up to come with me. In the end, I woke up the nearest person, my husband, and told himr we are going to the checkpoint.
We arrived around 5:30, in the dark. Shortest day of the year. Outside, in the direction of the workers' entrance, military vehicles and a group of soldiers. At the exit, transport vehicles ready to go. The exit area from the checkpoint was empty. We tried to get to the entrance area and the group of soldiers stopped us at a certain point. That is enough, as though protecting us.
I am on the telephone with S., who is with the workers and he says that at the opening of the checkpoint at 4, some of the workers decided to call a strike, spontaneously, even if some rumors were in the air for a while already. It seems there was total agreement for the decision, and no opposition. No one entered. At about the same time, the checkpoint commander arrived, Ronen, as well as a DCO officer. At a certain point, they held a discussion with the heads of the strike. According to one of the Palestinians (R., who spoke to me), they were told that, within a month and a half, the new gate would be completed (which has been in the building stages for a long time, apparently awaiting the iron monger!?). In any case, the meeting had no results and, after 7:00, the workers decided to go home. A group of them is supposed to go to the DCO in Tulkarm, to explain the situation.
Meanwhile, dozens of transport drivers gathered together and discussion the situation with me. They told me the shocking story of the day to day issues the workers had to endure. I told them, as someone who is aware of administrative rules, that they are required to communicate with their employers and get them to organize and become a support group for the workers, against the impossible situation. At 7:30, we left.
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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