Ar-Ram, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 13.1.13, Afternoon
Translating: Ruth Fleishma
People said that four army busses transported those who had been evicted from Bab-El-Shams, approximately a hundred and fifty people. Those who had been evicted stayed at the site and held a protest for two hours. The Israeli authorities defined the eviction as "non-violent". The results of this non-violence can be seen in following link:
By the square that stood bare under the pleasant winter sun I was invited to join a group of young people. They talked about Ahmed who had been arrested ten days previously and had yet to return:
"They just take the ones that are easy to catch and not those that actually throw stones", they talked about how hard it was to make a living, about the idleness that had been forced on them, about the despair, they also spoke of Igal from Beit-El who is responsible for the confiscation of the property of stand owners who don't have a business license (the area is part of the jurisdiction of the municipality of Jerusalem), of arrests, of interrogations and prison: "Do you know room number twenty at the Russian Compound?- it’s the worst", said a young man who talked about an interrogation that went on for two weeks in that awful room, where they tied him to the chair with his hands and legs cuffed and his eyes veiled, and when he asked to see a doctor for the pain he was in, they said they would agree only if he confessed to shooting at the checkpoint. A witness that had been convicted and was already serving a sentence of six years was brought in to incriminate him. And now, a year after he had finished doing his time, he has yet to restore his life.
Ar-Ram:
A New Post Across from the Entrance to Ar-Ram.
Three soldiers at the site said that their job was to defend the entrance to the base Rama (after a rifle had been taken from the guard's post) and shoot at those throwing stones on military vehicles.
And so, a wall defends a wall, a post guards a post and shielded military vehicles need human guards armed with rifles and grenades.
Jaba Checkpoint: 
Two trainers and a dog were practicing on Palestinian vehicles.
The soldiers crossed the road and said it was alright by them if I took photos as long as I didn't take one of their faces.
But I won't make any settlements with the army. I remained on the other side of the road. Far away but free.
From there I saw the two trainers signaling the soldiers which of the vehicles to stop, I saw the passengers being taken out, their IDs taken as they were told to stand back, then the dog was led to the car, it walked around it, sniffed, from time to time it jumped and placed it's paws on the cars, at times it found what had been planted for it, and at the end of the round the trainer rewarded the dog with signs of affection and put it back in the unit vehicle- until the next car arrived.
A-Ram
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two kilometers south of Qalandiya and 300 metres north of Neve Yaacov Junction, in Dahiyat el-Barid Quarter. Checkpoint has operated since 1991, in a Palestinian area annexed to Jerusalem in 1967. The checkpoint has been inactive since the middle of 2009.
The wall was built on the road that led to Jerusalem. Since then the situation in the town has deteriorated. Houses are abandoned and half finished, most of the businesses have closed. Severe neglect around the fence and on the streets. Those who could left. Updated January 2024
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Jaba' (Lil)
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Jaba' (Lil) In fact, the Jaba checkpoint is east of the Qalandiya checkpoint. Its declared purpose is the prevention of Israeli citizens from entering Area A. A road checkpoint for vehicles, located on Road 65, borders the southern fence of Kfar Jaba, about three kilometers east of the Qalandiya checkpoint, on the road leading to the settlement of Adam on Road 60. Archaeological excavations within the village found the remains of a cloth house from the First Temple period. The events that led to the construction of the checkpoint are precisely here: on the day of the abduction of Gilad Shalit and before the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a 17-year-old man from one of the settlements was abducted by a Palestinian cell. His body was found several days later at the entrances to Ramallah. A military investigation revealed that his abductors had taken him along this route. The checkpoint was set up to prevent future kidnappings and to warn settlers from traveling to Ramallah and entering Area A (which is forbidden for Israelis). The checkpoint that operates around the clock. Usually only vehicles traveling in the direction of Ramallah are inspected. (November 2016): Every morning, when the settlers en masse travel to Jerusalem on Route 60 and every afternoon they return from Jerusalem on Route 60, the army initiates a traffic jam at the entrance to the Jaba checkpoint and stops the movement of Palestinians traveling toward Route 60. (February 2020): In the last two years the checkpoint has not always been manned. Sometimes the soldiers come and just stand, sometimes they come and stop and check those who enter the village, sometimes they patrol the alleys of the village, sometimes they fire stun grenades and gas and sometimes they invade houses and stop young people, say those passing through the Hazma checkpoint. (Updated February 2020)
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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-26-2026Qalandiya. Things you see on the way
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