Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Sun 23.1.11, Morning
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Irtach, dawn)
We decided to change our shift day from Friday to Sunday, since things have been calm the last few Fridays. This morning, when we arrived about 04:30, large numbers of laborers had already gone through the checkpoint and were waiting outside for their rides. Hundreds of others still stood waiting to enter.
Two Swedish volunteers from the international EAPPI group were on the Palestinian side. We exchanged impressions and telephone numbers. They come to the checkpoint twice a week, and we were able to help them this morning with problems they’d confronted – a Palestinian not allowed to enter Israel who requested help, and another whose exit permit specified Qalandiya and wasn’t allowed to cross.
Later we went to where people wait after coming through the checkpoint.
Although large numbers of people were coming through, things went smoothly and calmly. No one complained to us. We spoke to many people about various things connected with work permits, but no one complained about the checkpoint itself or difficulties that arose there. There was an article in Ha’aretz on Friday about the number of people coming through, their ages and various restrictions. A simple computation indicates that about 3500 people cross at Irtach between 04:00 and 06:00 Sunday morning, some of whom remain in Israel for the whole week.
Although everything seems to go smoothly and feels routine, as if there wasn’t really an urgent need for us to be there, our presence nevertheless makes the Palestinians feel better, and it’s important.
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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