Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

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Place:

Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)

Observers:

Edith M., Hadas C. and Ronny P.

May-1-2016

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Morning

4.00 am

We arrived at Irtach early so that the many mini trucks which transport people to work were not there yet and the parking lot was almost empty and dark.

For me, it is the first shift after many mornings over the last number of years at Qalandiya. Amazing how the system works and how efficiently organized: the Israeli economy- the building industry , the agriculture, the industry and businesses just cannot function without Palestinian labour and so all is done to make it possible. The workers arrive at 2-3-4 am at the checkpoint to make sure they get through in time to meet the transportation at 5.30-6.00. People who come out of the checkpoint look tired and many light yet another cigarette because the stress of passing through the checkpoint control is over.

We spoke to some people who wanted or needed to let us know what troubles them.

A friendly man who is a housepainter and works for a big firm of maintenance services all over the greater Tel Aviv area. He loves his work, he likes to talk and shares with us that he likes the Israeli and believes that life in two separate states could work out so well. He is angry at the incitement that leads some young people to attack, stab and want to kill Israelis..

On the other hand the other man was full of anger at his employer. He said that he and his coworkers get pay for 15 days a month although they work 25 days. We gave him the phone number of the workers hotline and their Palestinian administrator. We also distribute cards of the Palestinian human rights hotline.

There was another man who holds a permit to work as agricultural worker in Israel but his permit to work his land was denied. He had repeatedly tried to renew it but did not succeed.We took his personal details and later gave them to one of our members who specializes in agricultural permits. The issue of permits is a huge field because there are so many categories- business permits, trader permits, hospital permits, religious needs permits etc. I sent a text message to our man with the phone number of our friend.

We left after we saw that this is a "good" day and that it takes between 8-15 minutes to go through the checkpoint control

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.