Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim)
We arrived a little later than planned.
4:45 –
Some of the workers had already passed through the checkpoint and are outside. We went towards the fence where we can view the line of workers, and the line is long and crowded. A group of workers tries to push their way towards the front of the line, and to do so they climb over the barbed wire fence, and above heads of people. There is a line for this too, mostly young men who wait patiently to their turn to climb and get between the barbed wires in order to get quickly to the turnstile and the windows, and gain very dear (and expensive) time.
The flow of people into the checkpoint is very strong.
We were walking towards the exit of the checkoint. On our way we were stopped by a worker who wanted to tell us that this morning the checking was quick because 16 windows were openned. Others, on the other hand, were complaining about the pressure in the line, and the inhuman treatment, as well as about the fact that there are a lot of young men and people who push their way, and there is nobody to complain to. It seems that they hope that we – the omnipotent – can improve the situation.
As we stood in front of the exit, we suddenly saw the turnstile stop. People who had already finished all the process were stuck inside, and within minutes there was a huge line. There was another complaint concerning the conditions in the place on Sundays and Fridays: on Sundays there are always more workers coming, but not more people checking them. On Friday they open the line at 05:00 and not at 04:00 as on every other day, and there is pressure to get to work on time.
We went back to the line of people coming in, and that was much shorter now. We met across the fence a Norwegian group, belonging to the organization "Norway Solidarity with Palestinians". They told us that they had been to Qalandiya, and also saw the movie about MachsomWatch "Kalandia". We had "partners' talk" with them.
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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