Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Sun 6.2.11, Morning

Irtah

A crowded Sunday morning, as usual; the first people to come through said that this was a good day and that actually the past 2 weeks have been good.  Which is to say, that the exit is smooth, without extended security checks;  let's hope it continues like that. People coming through an hour later complained about a difficult crossing.  A woman, from a group of women, who works in the strawberry fields of Kadima, told us that last Thursday they had body searches, including being asked to lift up their clothing.  According to the woman who spoke with us, the check took place next to the xray machine and took a long time,  as well as being humiliating.  At a certain stage, the women decided to go on strike.  About 40 women were there at the time.  They complained that they had been delayed for 2 hours within the checkpoint.  We didn't exactly understand the whole story, or whether or not they finally went through on that day to work or not.  They said they had been at the checkpoint until  08:00. Other people said that the situation has improved recently, after the last strike which was a month and a half ago.  They asked us to continue coming;  we will try to help them.