Qalandiya, 7/2/2011, AM
Translator: Charles K.
We arrived at the Qalandiya checkpoint at 06:20. The line stretched to the parking lot, and the noise and shouting reached to the skies. We entered and saw the waiting room full of hundreds, if not thousands of people pushing, yelling and angry that the gates are locked.
We called the DCO and the officer at the crossing explained that “the computers are down.” That doesn’t matter to the laborers, of course; they’re trying to reach their rides and workplace before 7 AM. They’ll lose a day of work. Many of those we spoke to said they’ve been there since 4 or 5 AM.
Many gave up and left, no-one bothering to tell them what was happening and why it was closed…
We’re talking about people who sleep barely 3-4 hours a night. They arrive here in the middle of the night in order to cross on time.
At 06:50the checkpoint opened and everyone who was still there began to go through.
The humanitarian gate was operating the whole time. The DCO officer made sure of it, and it works better without the police.
We moved to where residents of Jerusalemcross. A seven-minute minibus ride. We entered; here, too, people weren’t being allowed through because the female soldier decided she didn’t like one of the pupils and told him to go back. He refused, and the line got held up for half an hour. The checkpoint was guarded by the same crazy soldier that Ivonne ran into. He yelled and cursed at us, at Arabs, and was, continually and disturbingly, definitely insulting and provocative. No one was there to get rid of him or put him in his place. The female soldier allowed people through one by one, not in threes, and when we came in prevented us from crossing – on instructions from the crazy soldier, I assume. We left because we didn’t want to cause any more delays for people who had already waited on line for 40 minutes.
We called the Qalandiya commander, Ahsan. I reported what was happening and he promised to investigate immediately. We called again ten minutes later and he told us that it was being taken care of. Let’s hope it was.
The situation this morning was very bleak, and indicated once again how explosive and unresolved are conditions at the checkpoints.
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
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Click here to watch a video from Qalandiya checkpoint up to mid 2019 Three kilometers south of Ramallah, in the heart of Palestinian population. Integrates into "Jerusalem Envelope" as part of Wall that separates between northern suburbs that were annexed to Jerusalem in 1967: Kafr Aqab, Semiramis and Qalandiya, and the villages of Ar-Ram and Bir Nabala, also north of Jerusalem, and the city itself. Some residents of Kafr Aqab, Semiramis and Qalandiya have Jerusalem ID cards. A terminal operated by Israel Police has functioned since early 2006. As of August 2006, northbound pedestrians are not checked. Southbound Palestinians must carry Jerusalem IDs; holders of Palestinian Authority IDs cannot pass without special permits. Vehicular traffic from Ramallah to other West Bank areas runs to the north of Qalandiya. In February 2019, the new facility of the checkpoint was inaugurated aiming to make it like a "border crossing". The bars and barbed wire fences were replaced with walls of perforated metal panels. The check is now performed at multiple stations for face recognition and the transfer of an e-card. The rate of passage has improved and its density has generally decreased, but lack of manpower and malfunctions cause periods of stress. The development and paving of the roads has not yet been completed, the traffic of cars and pedestrians is dangerous, and t the entire vicinity of the checkpoint is filthy. In 2020 a huge pedestrian bridge was built over the vehicle crossing with severe mobility restrictions (steep stairs, long and winding route). The pedestrian access from public transport to the checkpoint from the north (Ramallah direction) is unclear, and there have been cases of people, especially people with disabilities, who accidentally reached the vehicle crossing and were shot by the soldiers at the checkpoint. In the summer of 2021, work began on a new, sunken entrance road from Qalandiya that will lead directly to Road 443 towards Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. At the same time, the runways of the old Atarot airport were demolished and infrastructure was prepared for a large bus terminal. (updated October 2021)
Tamar FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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