Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Thu 6.8.09, Morning
4.40 Irtah
At the checkpoint where the workers enter the gate is permanently open. The turnstiles do not close and there is no pressure at the entrance. The exit is also smooth. The posts are open and the exit flows and is continuous. Many people said good morning to us and that there were no problems. It seems that the parcels of food which they take with them have also grown in size. This shows that they are now able to take through more food. The only complaint that we got time and again was about the way home. In the afternoon between 3.30 and 5.00 when they return only one post is open and there is a long wait in the blistering sun and that after a long and hard day's work. It seems that the afternoon shift has to be strengthened and another article sent to the newspaper about this. We stood about an hour at the exit like stewardesses smiling at those getting off the plane and then 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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