Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Thu 27.8.09, Morning
We arrived at Irtah at 4.25. Dark and quiet and only the sounds of voices from the queue of which we could not see the end – a moaning sound.
4.30 The checkpoint opened.
4.40 Hardly any line. Whoever arrived went in immediately. A small number of the people carried small bags. They said that about half the people did not come because of Ramadan and those who do come are not fasting. Because of the respect shown towards those fasting and/or because they do not want to be seen with food they buy it on the Israeli side. People praying are seen in every corner inside the checkpoint and around it. They say the passage is Ok. There are complaints about the long wait of half an hour to an hour on their return around 13.00, 14.00. They are tired, the sun is burning down and they are tense with the desire to get home early. They say that 4-5 windows are open in the morning but in the afternoon only two.
5.00 We counted about 35-40 workers passing through each minute at a fast pace.
5.30 The rate of exit is slower.
When we came to the entrance of the checkpoint there had been no queue but 4 four minutes the turnstile stayed closed and then there was pressure. Now and again for no discernible reason the entrance was closed and then opened again. As far as we could see on the other side of the few coming out there was no reason for delay. But we cannot really know what is happening on the other side.
6.15 We left.
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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