Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Fri 16.8.13, Morning
Translator: Hanna K.
Irtah\Sha'ar Ephraim Dawn Shift
05:10The first workers are already outside, they say the day is a good one. Near the separation fence the queue is calm, the square is clean, the turnstiles open and shut and let people enter with a regular beat.
05:25We proceed in the direction of the entrance to Israel. The stream of outgoing people is stable. At least 4 passages are open.
05:30suddenly the leading doors are slammed shut and the turnstiles stop. It is not clear why. One person is stuck between the doors and the turnstiles. The doors are opened at 05:35 and an enormous stream of people assembles near the turnstiles. Within minutes a watchman appears and opens the side door (see the report of three weeks ago), thus releasing the pressure quickly then locks the door and leaves.
A person begs us for our help to obtain an authorization to pass through the Tura\Shaked CP. According to him this is nearer to the village where he lives and to his place of work. If he gets such an authorization he won't have to set out at 02:30. We don't know what to advise him, and give him two telephone numbers: That of Sylvia and that of Hanna B. We hope he will be able to get advice or instructions.
Another person begs for our help to obtain a work permit for his brother in Israel. Again we refer him to the aforementioned persons. Perhaps it would be useful to instruct us what may be done for those requiring our advice, beyond what we did now.
06:10 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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