Qalandiya
Reports of youths from the Qalandiya refugee camp shot dead by the army arrive so often they grip our heart and stop our breath.
They, the murdered children and youths, keep looking right at us, remain ever-young, year after year, child after child.
On the walls are photos of Muhammad al-Qasba, who was murdered, aged 18, in the morning of the third Friday of Ramadan, accompanied by photos of his murdered brothers, Yasser and Samer.
Photos of Muhammad Ziad al-Aghraji, aged 17 ½ , also stare from the walls, murdered the night of Al-Qadr, exactly one year ago, at exactly the same location, for exactly the same reason – for no reason, and no one is guilty and there is no murderer.
Only a youth plucked off, and a family and deep sorrow and endless mourning.
And “While he was yet speaking there came also another…” (Job 1:16)
And to the number of those killed was added Muhammad Abu-Latifa – aged 18 when he died -only a few hours after the two who preceded him were photographed.
An inquiry into the circumstances of Muhammad Abu-Latifa’s killing that was published in a local conversation:
In a corner hidden from view, at the edge of the checkpoint compound, next to razor-wire fences and piles of garbage, in the late afternoon, a large group of women and children who’d left home early in the morning for their weekly visit to relatives imprisoned in Israel boarded buses for their journey home.
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
See all reports for this place-
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 FleishmanJul-21-2026Qalandiya. Conversation in the shadow of the wall
-
