Eliyahu Crossing

rances T (reporting) Nina S., accompanied by Tamar Z.

We are accompanied today by Tamar, an ex-student who has just returned from New York and is interested in the activities of Machsom Watch.

06.40        Habla.  We arrived to find the gate closed.  A few minutes later the soldiers open it.  In the past, the gate was opened at 06.30 and later we call the moked to advise them.  The door to the “mitkan” is locked and despite concerted efforts from the soldiers, they are unable to unlock it.  Consequently the waiting Palestinians have to undergo manual checks.  There are about 15 people waiting to enter and the manual checks are fast (about 1.5 minutes each).  We leave at 07.10 with approximately 25 Palestinians waiting.

07.20        Ras-a-tiyah.  The crossing is very quiet with few people around.  There are several schoolchildren arriving and a school bus trundles across after it is checked by the soldiers.

07.40        Shaar Eliyahu.  As we go through, we do not see any Palestinians waiting.  We turn into the Qalqilya entrance to show our guest the location of the former checkpost but there is little to see and traffic is flowing freely.

08.0            Shvut Ami.  As we drive past, Tamar mentions that she sees someone on the hill at the left hand side of the road.

08.05        Jit junction.  No army presence.

08.10        Dir Sharaf.  There is no checkpoint and cars a driving along unhindered.

08.20        Anabta.  No one is around.  We drive into the area of the checkpost and turn around after it and drive back.

08.45        Hawarra.  There is a military policeman and other soldiers standing on/by the road near the location of the old checkpost.  We are asked if we know “Edna”.  Cars are passing freely.  Then we note the presence of a dog handler and a car is stopped and searched, the dog entering the car.

10.0            Tapuach junction.  There is a long line of cars approaching the junction.  At first we think this is due to checks, however it appears that Maatz are doing roadworks and holding up the traffic in each direction in turn.  We park at the junction and are advised by one of the soldiers to move back “according to rules”.  When we dispute this, we are told to move “for our own safety”.  There is a dog handler checking a taxi.  The Palestinians are standing outside the taxi waiting for the dog to finish sniffing round the car – very humiliating.  We ask one of the dog handlers why they do not use plastic sheets to cover the seats.  “Only when it rains”, we are told.

We are approached by a Palestinian journalist who is travelling south on a bus.  His ID has been taken for checking and he asks for our help to expedite matters.  The bus, which is waiting for him, has been waiting nearly half an hour.  We call the liaison officer who is very helpful.  He speaks to one of the soldiers and within minutes the journalist receives his ID papers, boards the bus and leaves.  Another taxi is stopped for a search but leaves after 5 minutes.

Zeta.  We stop, noting a police car parked at the side of the road by the closed exit from the village and are told by the policemen that they are checking ID’s.  Further down the road the exit from Marda is open.  We note an army jeep stopped by the side and the soldiers standing by the road throwing bags of rubbish.  We tell them that this is forbidden but of course our comments fall on deaf ears.

Translator: Louise L.

5.00
Eyal – It’s very cold…Maybe the coldest night so far. The workers who have already passed gather around improvised fires.

We approach the fence. Immediately a security guard arrives followed by 3 “bosses”. One of them is very aggressive. Screaming and threatening us he claims that it has been agreed that the women from Machsomwatch will not enter the gate leading to the fence. On the gate it says ”Permit Holders Only”. When we mention the non-existence of shelter from the rain, the answer is that the Palestinians are responsible for their side of the fence. Regarding our side, a request for the required budget has been submitted.

When we arrive we speak with Sophie. Until five o’clock 1800 people have entered the terminal. The first workers coming out say that the time of the checking is reasonable. One worker brings us a note from Sophie showing that he entered the checking at 4.45, and now it’s 5.30. In order to be on time for work he arrived at the checkpoint at 3.30.

One man comes to us concerning his 19-year-old son, who doesn’t get a work permit. Nura will connect him  to Silvy.

6.10
Sophie informs us that 3400 workers have entered for checking. There is a line still and people keep arriving.

7.00
Eliyahu – There are still 70 workers waiting in line. 2 soldiers, taking their time, are checking. The procedure is very slow. Each time 2 people enter, so the checking will take more than an hour. All the workers here are on their way to Alfei Menashe.

7.30
Ras Attiya – Many children are walking to school. A bus with Bedouin children living close to Alfei Menashe arrives. A soldier enters the bus and immediately lets it through.

8.15
Hable – an agricultural gate that is open at certain hours. The moment we arrive it is being closed. At the last moment a man runs through the gate to work his land that has been closed in by a fence.
 

7.30 Ras Atia.  One soldier in the sentry tower, 4 soldiers at the checkpoint and some more in the checking booth ( we could not go close to see how many).

This checkpoint opens at 6.30 to 18.30. In the room IDs are checked and  people go through an x-ray device.

A bus of children arrived at the village.  A soldier get on and then off the back door as buses are checked at the bus station in Tel Aviv.

Now a woman comes out on foot. She is going to her lands outside the village. She asked our help. She has three sons who are not allowed to go out of the village to the lands. Only she is. The driver and children drive through the checkpoint, showing papers. The man and woman get out of the car and go to the checking area. The soldier explains that the driver is a teacher and so does not have to be carefully checked.

7.50 Ras Tira.  We went into the village but met no one.

8.00 Sha'ar Eliyahu. The traffic flows and there are no delays or detainees. At Funduk there is a border patrol jeep next to the big house in the centre of the village.

We see army Hummers at the side of the road, after Kedumiem and also soldiers on patrol. An exercise? Expected settler activities?

Anabta Checkpoint  

16:10 – All the cars that leave Tulkarm are checked. Automatic gates go up and down. Israeli vehicles leave but Palestinian cars are sent back to Tulkarm. We call the DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Administration that handles passage permits] to find out the reason. In the meantime, however, the instructions change and everybody can leave without inspection. Behind us, the line is long. 

Eliyahu Gate 

16:30 – Two lines are formed to leave the West Bank. Without an usher to determine the order, trucks and pick-up trucks are on the right, private cars in the middle and the left side is empty. We crawl in the middle and notice fancier cars passing on the left. These are the lords of the land. In the middle and on the right side Israeli Arabs are waiting for inspection. How does each and everyone decide which is the right side for him? How does racism get its way without shouts and without written or spoken announcements? 

Irtah Passage 

16:45 – No delay in the flow of entering workers is expected today. A decorated place and a 'Welcome' sign, in Hebrew and Arabic meet the comers. Inside the terminal there is also a sign saying 'Have a nice time'. Since the sign is not made of iron, it hasn't been stolen yet. Workers complain about the "rooms" in the morning, having to spend 2 hours in narrow and closed space. They also complain that on Friday the checkpoint is opened only at 05:00. Worth checking! 

Eyal Passage 

17:20 – No delays on entering. 

Guests: Tali and Miriam (in preparation for an academic survey)

06.40 Habla
06.41 The gates opened a couple of minutes after we arrive, which means there is a line (albeit short) of Palestinians who have been waiting for the opening. There is a problem with the military computers, which causes a further 10-minute delay. After the problem is solved, things start moving.

07.10 Ras-a-Tiya
We are told that the gates were opened at 6.30. There are no lines.

07.30 Eliyahu crossing
There are no workers waiting, just a trickle of people walking behind the wire fence in the direction of the crossing from the direction on Qalqilya.

We go back the way we came and stop off at Irtah where, at 09.40, there is very little to see and the place is almost empty. We note the "welcome" signs by the road – how incongruous. We show our guests the facility – the efforts at gardening which are shielded from the Palestinians who use the place by enormous concrete blocks, and the overhead guards inside the facility who parade above with their weapons. One of our guests remarks on the similarity to a concentration camp. I tend to agree.

Translation: Galia S.

Qalqiliya
14:25 – One soldier stands in a post on the left side of the road shoulders, watching those who enter the city. In both directions vehicles pass without inspection.

Eliyahu Passage
14:35 – Residents of the villages around Alfei Menashe (Ras at Tira, Dab'a, Wadi Rasha and a few Bedouin encampments) are allowed to pass here by car. The vehicles are checked in a special lane destined for Palestinians (this is an entry checkpoint into Israel). The driver leaves his vehicle next to the checkpoint and passes on foot. The passengers of the vehicle, in case there are any, are to get out where the pedestrian lane starts, a narrow fenced lane about half a kilometer long. We talked with two drivers and both of them said that leaving the women and children to walk alone along the lane in the evening or when it rains was very unpleasant. We have also heard from both drivers, residents of Ras at-Tira, about restrictions on food (a more detailed description we hear from the village headman we meet later).

14:55 – Two soldiers stand guard over a construction site on the road leading to Ras at Tira. A wall and a new road that will lead to Alfei Menashe are under construction. The lands belong to Ras at Tira residents, including the olive trees which probably will soon be cut down.

Ras at Tira (1351)
15:05 - The checkpoint is open from 06:30 to 18:30, which means that in the evening and the night hours no traffic is allowed. Vehicles and pedestrians pass. Passengers get out of the vehicles before the checkpoint, pass in the pedestrian lane while the driver proceeds alone toward the checkpoint and picks them up on the other side. Those who pass through the checkpoint show ID cards and the trunks of their vehicles are checked. There isn't much traffic and there are no lines here. Still, the checkpoint is never empty for more than a few minutes.

Two young men, Dab'a residents, tell us that soldiers beat them and members of their family. The grandmother of one of them needed medical care. We take down a telephone number and pass the information to "Yesh Din" [Organization of volunteers for human rights].

We meet up with the Ras at Tira village headman who tells us about the life of the residents in the seam-line zone, an area which Israel intends to annex, preferably without its Palestinian residents, for which all means are justified.

Last Wednesday the permits to bring in food into the villages were canceled. The situation today is that the residents need to coordinate all their grocery shopping with the village headman who has to coordinate it with the DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Administration that handles passage permits]. It is not just the inconvenience, there are also restrictions. A family is allowed one chicken that doesn't exceed the weight of 2 kilograms and one carton of eggs (one of the drivers we meet at Eliyahu Passage says that with 7 kids they are 9 in the family and it just isn't enough). The village headman tells us about a shortage of gas containers, for cooking and heating. The DCO doesn't give permission to buy gas cylinders. Two days ago a vet was not allowed to cross the checkpoint with medication that according to the DCO, was not coordinated in advance.
Two thousand people live in the four villages. (The village headman keeps in touch with Tami and Dalia.)

Habla (1392)
15:45 – The gate is opened intermittently: 06:45–07:45, 11:15–12:15, and 16:45-17:45. The inspection includes going through the magnetometer. From what the six men who are waiting in line say, we understand that the opening of the gate is often delayed. One of them collects the ID cards and puts them in the order of arrival. So far he has already collected 26 documents. It turns out that there are people who plan their daily life according to the times the gate opens – they get here, secure a good place in the line and go back to work. Riva has given one of the men her phone number in case the opening of the gate is delayed. Fortunately, we haven't heard from him.

Eyal
16:05 – There is no line and the passage is quick. We decide to go on to Irtah and come back later.

Irtah (Efrayim Passage)
16:40 – When we arrive, we see along line of about 150 men (counting is impossible, so this is a rough estimate) waiting by the turnstile (pictures attached). The turnstile doesn't move. When the checkpoint opens at 16:50, the inspection is brief and it take minutes to cross the checkpoint. We have seen how bicycles are transferred through the turnstile. Two men are needed, one of whom maneuvers the bicycle while the other take care of the turnstile (picture attached).

Eyal
17:30 – The traffic at the checkpoint is quick and without delays.

6.25

Agricultural gate (193)

The gates are locked and between the fences there is a large shielded army vehicle. A jeep arrives and the soldiers open the gates. The workers pass through immediately without being checked by the magnetometer. The Palestinians greet us claiming that today thanks to us the passage is quick. The soldiers are getting organized and start using the magnetometer, which, of course, makes the passage slower. A Palestinian tries to bring through a tool which is used for cutting stone and which he needs for work in his plant nursery. The soldiers refuse. Nina speaks with the district coordinator, but he also thinks that this tool is unnecessary for work in a plant nursery. However, he will check, since Nina asks him to do so. In the meantime the Palestinian gives up and sends the tool back to his village. People tell us that lately they have not been allowed to bring bicycles, which makes things harder for them.  

7.05

Ras Attiya

The gate is open and there are no lines in either direction. Our guest, who has been to Tzavta watching the movie about the construction of the fence and the new road in the area, finds it hard to understand the logic of what is going on. We tell her that neither do we understand. 

7.20

The Eliyahu Gate

There are still workers waiting to be let through. 

Azun is open. “Shevut Ami” seems abandoned, and we drive on to the Barrel Checkpoint and from there to Anabta.  

8.05

Anabta – There are many vehicles, 2 coffee vendors and a small kiosk cart at the junction. We do not stop to find out the reason for the commotion but continue towards the abandoned checkpoint. We do not see any soldiers and the passage is free. I believe that this checkpoint with all its roads, its traffic lights and marking lines might serve as a monument of wasted money and stupidity.

We return to the Jit junction to drive on to Huwwara. 

Translation: Galia S.

Ras Atiya
07:40 – We get to the checkpoint and wait for the bus that ferries the schoolchildren to the village. It arrives 15 minutes later and passes without any special problems. A number of people pass toward the village, as do some vehicles and a couple of farmers with a horse-drawn cart and, on showing documents, they, too, pass without any problems.

Eliyahu Passage / checkpoint 109
08:15 – A young man that we saw at the detaining post when we arrived told us that he has been there since 06:00 in the morning. The soldiers claim that he has been detained for about an hour and a half (which seems really to be the duration of the detention), the reason being some trouble that he has caused. From what the soldiers and he himself say, it turns out that although he has a permit to enter the seam-line zone, he tried to jump over the fence instead of crossing at the pedestrian' passage to avoid the congestion. Micky informs the DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Administration that handles passage permits]. And half an hour later he is released and walks toward the pedestrians' passage where some 20 people are still swarming the entrance. The crossing is slow but flowing uninterrupted. The pedestrians here tell us that there was heavy congestion in the morning.

They also draw our attention to a small boy who, according to what they say, has been detained for half an hour. We see the boy waiting in the fenced plot around the inspection caravan of the pedestrians' passage.

He told us he is 11 years old and has been caught on the western side of the checkpoint while waiting for people to come and take him to work. It’s difficult to understand from him what exactly has happened and where he was from. Anyway, he is released within a short time to the western side.

Translation: Hanna K.

07:40 Ras Atiya
We arrived at the CP and waited for the transportation of pupils to the village. The vehicle arrived indeed about a quarter of an hour later and passed without special problems. Others who went in the direction of the village, among which were vehicles and a pair of farmers with a cart and a horse, also passed without special problems, after they presented their papers.

08:15 CP 109/The Eliyahu Passage
When we arrived we saw a young man waiting at the detaining post. He told us that he is there since six o'clock in the morning. The soldiers claimed that he had been detained for an hour and a half (so it seems that this was indeed the duration of the delay) and that the reason for the detainment  was that he 'created havoc'. What transpired from the soldiers and his own report was that he had an authorization to get to the Seamline zone, but that he tried to jump over the fence and not to pass at the pedestrians' passage, because of the great pressure. Micky reported to the DCO. Half an hour later he was released and went to pass at the pedestrians' passage. There were about 20 people waiting at the entrance to the passage. The passing was slow but flowed. Palestinians on the spot told us about a great pressure that was in the morning.
While we stayed at the CP our attention was drawn to a small boy who was detained, according to the Palestinians on the spot, since half an hour. We saw the boy waiting at the fenced in part around the checking caravan of the pedestrians' passage. We talked to him, he said that he was 11 years old and that he was caught at the western side of the CP, while he was waiting for people to come and fetch him to work. It was difficult to understand from him exactly what had happened and where he was from. The soldier on the spot claimed that he was an illegal and that he had tried to pass the CP. Be it as it may, the child was released shortly afterwards, to the Western side.

09:15 Huwwara
At the CP there were random checkings of vehicles. Among them was one car that was checked by a dog for long minutes, while other vehicles waited. Micky called the DCO to find out what the reason for the delay was. Within a few minutes the DCO commander of the sector arrived . At this stage the queue diminished and the soldiers stopped cars for a short check, including vehicles who were checked by a dog. At the same time a conversation with the soldiers on the spot began, and we again heard about the security need to check vehicles and to prevent the transfer of means of warfare, terrorist acts etc. At the Huwwara CP? It is not on the Green Line. 

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