Ma’ale Efrayim, Tayasir, Wed 27.4.11, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
11:55 Ma’aleh Efrayim checkpoint – not manned.
12:15 Hamra checkpoint – Deserted. Very light traffic. It’s very hot, and it’s hard for people to stand in the sun. The shed that was installed supposedly to provide shade for the Palestinians is locked by a metal gate and is used by the soldiers for storing their belongings. The Palestinians stand in the sun. But when it was installed, it was very photogenic…
The checkpoint commander tries to get rid of us, threatening to close the checkpoint. “I don’t like to see Israelis here…”
There’s a great deal of military presence throughout the Jordan Valley. An tent encampment for soldiers is being erected next to the vineyards of the settlement of Beqa’ot. They’re running around with drawn weapons; we’re driving along in the midst of the battle raging between the soldiers and nothing. Two large transport planes pass overhead, so low that we all ducked. The noise is deafening (to show them?)
Along the Alon Route (No. 548) an army bulldozer is digging a deeper ditch and a high earth barrier to prevent Palestinian residents of the Jordan Valley to reach the West Bank, where their lives are centered.
13:50 Tayasir checkpoint Crossing is quick but traffic is light. The children go through on the bus and don’t have to cross on foot. Random inspection of people coming from the Jordan Valley to the territory of the Palestinian Authority; every car going to the Jordan Valley is inspected, but there are no delays. Cars not registered to residents of the Jordan Valley, or whose owner isn’t the driver, are sent back. Not allowed to enter the Jordan Valley.
17:00 We drove to Auja, near Jericho. In the Bedouin village east of Auja JordanValleySolidarity is erected a small, one-room structure of mud and straw that will be a school for the Bedouin children. A large sign announces its name: Vittori Arrigoni, named after the peace activist murdered in Gaza. The activists – Palestinians and people from abroad covered with mud, but all of them are gleeful.
We returned via the settlements of Alon, Kochav HaShachar, etc. – a lovely route, full of hikers (Passover’s finished – don’t people have school? Jobs?). The Jordan Valley is full of billboards: “Joseph is like the Cave of the Patriarchs,” calling on the settlers to come to Joseph’s Tomb.
Ma'ale Efrayim
See all reports for this place-
Ma'ale Efrayim On the road connecting Route 90 (the Jordan Valley road) to the Allon Road.
-
Tayasir CP
See all reports for this place-
Located on road 5799, It is one of the checkpoints control the passage between the northern West Bank and the Jordan Valley. For a long time, it stood empty and open, with only a sign next to it warning against entering Area A. It was adjacent to an old military camp - now everything is neglected. How much money was invested here, and how much brainwashing was done to the soldiers of Netzah Yehuda and Kfir.
Today, it is very difficult to pass there. Many delays. Often, teachers from Tubas are not allowed to pass into the Valley to villages like Ein al-Bida where the local schools are located, and there are no classes. There are additional days when the checkpoint is closed. In general, there is a wait there of about two to four hours to go towards the Valley and also to return. Many times the Palestinians are forced to use the Hamra checkpoint, which also leads into Tubas and the West Bank, but there is also a huge queue there and a long wait.
Following a deadly attack on soldiers at the nearby base in February 2025, the checkpoint was completely closed for the time being. (Updated March 2025)
-