Eliyahu Crossing, Ras 'Atiya, Wed 4.11.09, Morning

Place:

Eliyahu Crossing

Ras 'Atiya

Observers:

Michal B., Hanna P. (reporting)

Nov-4-2009

Morning

Translation: Galia S.

Eliyahu Passage

06:00 – As soon as we arrive, two soldiers come from the checkpoint and demand that we leave the place. The reason given is that it's dangerous to talk to the workers that haven't been checked yet. We argue that there is nowhere any sign saying that our presence there is prohibited.

From the workers we hear some things that are news to us: All workers who cross here work in Alfei Menashe. When they get to the settlement's gate, the permit and the magnetic card are taken from them and returned when they leave.

With the coming winter, they fear they can be exposed to rain without any sheltering for an hour or two.

Ras Atiya
06:50 – The checkpoint is very quiet and the soldiers are relaxed. A few workers pass the inspection and there is no line.

At 07:00 an empty bus leaves the village and 20 minutes later returns with children, passing without inspection.

Location Description

Ras 'Atiya

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The checkpoint is presently on the Separation Barrier roadway, manned and open 12 hours a day, from 6:30 to 18:30. West of it is the large Seam Line village whose school is attended by children from the nearby villages east of the Barrier and many of whose inhabitants have permits to work in Israel. How long this checkpoint will remain in place is unknown, since construction of the Separation Wall, just by the settlement of Alfe Menashe, east of the present Separation Barrier, is endless, as is the creation of a new road and, obviously, a new checkpoint.

Eliyahu Crossing

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This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank.
It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Tzufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone.
This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone."
It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area info-icon are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.