Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Sun 6.9.09, Morning
Natanya translating
We arrived at 4.00 and were surprised to find that new rolled barbed wire had been put in the place where we usually stand and all this so that we should not approach the fence and be in touch with the coffee vendor.
4.25 An army jeep arrives behind us and two soldiers arrived and said that there were new orders and that we were bothering them in their work. We are forbidden to touch the fence and forbidden to come near to it. After a short argument they left.
4.28 The turnstiles were opened and most of the workers went through without parcels.
4.50 The turnstiles closed.
5.10 The turnstiles opened,
5.35 The turnstiles closed.
5.46 They opened again.
From the line are shouts and the workers push. They are upset and frustrated and push one another. They are scared that they will miss their transport as has happened so often on Sunday.
5.55 The line is long. At least 2000 workers waiting to go in. They say that on the 1st October another 1000 people will come to work in the orchards.
6.57 The families of the prisoners begin to come through. The arm of an elderly man gets caught in the turnstile. None of the security guards come to help him. In the end people from the Red Cross got him out.
Today 15 workers were sent back.
7.00 6 workers came back because their transport had not waited for them. Others because of problems with the print of the hand or problems with the permit.
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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