Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Thu 11.6.09, Morning

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Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

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Observers:

Racheli M. Rachel A. (reporting); Natanya translating

Jun-11-2009

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Morning

4.36 We came to the area of the entrance to the checkpoint where every thing looked as usual and the checkpoint was already open. Ziona who was already there stayed in the area and we went to the exit. We were there till 6.30 and these are some of the remarks.

Good that you are here , it helps us. The passage is swifter.

Why don't they open at Barta'a. We travel from there to here so as to work on the other side.

Why can we not get to our lands in the envelope area.

At 6 the turnstiles at the exit closes and noise started and then we were told that at the entrance to the checkpoint, behind the first turnstiles there is an area where tons of people are crowded together under difficult circumstances for a long time. For some unknown reason, maybe to show that there are not many people outside, a large number of people are sent through and there is no possibility of them all being absorbed while the IDs are checked and so a long bottle neck forms under pressure which leads to shouts. And therefore maybe they closed so suddenly so as to show authority or something.

Someone said that yesterday in the afternoon the turnstile at the entrance was closed at 4pm for some unknown reason and they were stuck outside, hot and very tired, until it was opened again. Only two turnstiles are open in the afternoon but there is less pressure than in the morning. There is more of a dispersal of those coming to the checkpoint.

The problem of the handprints. There are those who put the card through the computer again and again and the computer does not recognize it because of the hard work of those who work in building or in agriculture where the skin is affected the surface of the hand changed.

Location Description

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.