Qalandiya, Sun 26.5.13, Afternoon
Translation: Ruth Fleishman
"To us all the days are Nakba", said a friend who told us about the lives of the Palestinians.
Because what seems to us, the Israelis, as routine or as "the routine of the occupation" (an obscene expression in my opinion), is for millions of human beings the continuing grind of the daily struggle for survival.
It wasn't routine for the elder man who was being transferred from the Jerusalem ambulance to the one from the occupied territories. The man, who had had his leg amputated from the knee down at Mukased hospital, a patient with a multisystem illness who had yet to recover from the amputation, was jiggled about, tossed, placed on the second stretcher and taken inside the second ambulance in order to bring him to the hospital in his town Jenin, for more treatment.
The hospital at Jenin, like other hospitals in the West Bank (due to restrictions and the policy of the administrators of the occupation), doesn't have the necessary skills and equipment to treat patients in such complicated and dire conditions, and so these patients require one of the six Palestinian hospital in East Jerusalem.
But this certainly was the routine of the soldiers and security men who inspected and made sure that everything was being performed according to regulations and orders.
The same went for the health coordinators in Beit-El, where permits for passage from the West Bank to East Jerusalem are issue, it was their routine as well.
And it was also the routine of the GSS men who supervise the occupation, without whose permission no man, woman, baby or corps passes to the other side, they will first make sure that the elder patient is not a security threat and that there is no reason to prevent him from arriving at the hospital and from returning with one third of his leg missing.
A matter not as important and that has almost become mundane was our detainment/ confinement in front of the soldiers' inner post.
We were released after about ten minutes by superintendent Ami who told us with pride that he was the one that some weeks ago ordered that Roni, Norah and me be detained.
It is hard to believe, but the facts speak for themselves: there is a crack in the wall!
Perhaps this is because:
"There is a Crack, a Crack in Everything/That's How the Light Gets In" / Leonard Cohen.
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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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