Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Tue 28.7.09, Morning
Eyal
We arrived at 05:45. Many people were already waiting outside for transportation, and were spread, sleeping, on every free and flat space.
At about 06:11 the gates of the CP were closed for half an hour. We tried to find out from the Security person what the reason was, but he said: "I don't talk to you".
When the gates were reopened the workers told us that "somebody tried to escape" – my interpretation is that perhaps somebody tried to avoid entering the small room where the infamous checking takes place.
At the two went through they repeated and stressed many times the important of our presence in the morning and in the afternoon. They complained very much about the return in the afternoon "when only one work-station is open".
Irtach
The turnstiles began operating at 04:30. About fifty people passed at each round until the turnstiles stopped. A few minuted later the turnstiles were opened again, and so on and so forth.
After a few minutes we met the workers outside. "Today was a good day" they told us.
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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