Eyal Crossing, Habla, Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Sun 13.6.10, Morning

Irtach – when we arrived we saw people sleeping on the traffic island. 

04:50  A long line, as far as the eye can see (to the shed).  People are let in quickly, about 50 per minute (which says nothing about the rate of inspection; see below).  After ten minutes of this they stopped for 7 minutes and then let in 120 people at once. 

People leaving complain about the long line for the rooms.  Only four stations are operating.  It’s particularly crowded on Sunday, because those who’ll stay out all week are added to the daily traffic, but the number of inspection rooms hasn’t been increased.  Men under 45 go through the rooms.  Sometimes a group of ten who’ve gone through wait another half hour for a laborer who was called to one of the rooms. 

When we returned to the line it was still long, all the way to the shed. 

Eyal

06:00  We went over to the line – long and orderly.  A security guard showed up immediately.  He demanded we leave, because it’s dangerous, we could be shot at.  In response to our question he said that the Palestinian police have kalashnikovs.  We asked him to give us two minutes, and guard us.  He reported than more than 4000 people showed up today, and more than 2000 have already gone through.  Eight stations are operating.  According to him, the latest statistics show that the laborers prefer crossing at Eyal rather than at Irtach. 

Habla. 

06:45  They opened a little earlier this morning and people are already coming out.  One of them told us that today the officer is good and they’re working quickly.  But the laborers still said that it should open earlier. 

Note:  Whoever read the article in Ha’aretz’s Friday magazine (June 11) wondered why they mentioned the reports by Breaking the Silence, but not ours.