Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Sun 6.2.11, Morning
Irtah
A crowded Sunday morning, as usual; the first people to come through said that this was a good day and that actually the past 2 weeks have been good. Which is to say, that the exit is smooth, without extended security checks; let's hope it continues like that. People coming through an hour later complained about a difficult crossing. A woman, from a group of women, who works in the strawberry fields of Kadima, told us that last Thursday they had body searches, including being asked to lift up their clothing. According to the woman who spoke with us, the check took place next to the xray machine and took a long time, as well as being humiliating. At a certain stage, the women decided to go on strike. About 40 women were there at the time. They complained that they had been delayed for 2 hours within the checkpoint. We didn't exactly understand the whole story, or whether or not they finally went through on that day to work or not. They said they had been at the checkpoint until 08:00. Other people said that the situation has improved recently, after the last strike which was a month and a half ago. They asked us to continue coming; we will try to help 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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