Qalandiya
The conduct of the Border Police force that took over the entrance of the checkpoint through which the West Bank is reached was not exceptional. Nothing outstanding happened as the BPmen got into buses headed for Jerusalem and conducted a repeat inspection of people who had been inspected at the checkpoint 203 minutes earlier, and delayed them longer. The blocking of their way and the demand to produce IDs and permits was no exception, not even the fact that they created two categories, those who came out of their inspection alright: “you can proceed”, and those who needed deeper inquiry: “you stand here.”
Even after an hour and a quarter of activity, when they managed to hunt a young man returning from work who had “only “ an ID because his work permit was no longer valid and he had not yet received his new one, even then, when they detained him and checked his bag and body-searched him, they were not violent. They were doing what they do because this is what must be done. And when they reported him on radio and were ordered to take him for interrogation to Atarot base, and two of them led him between them, even then they were neither abrasive nor rough. They were efficient. After a while, when I drove away and passed by them and saw the Palestinian with his hands crossed in front of his body and thought I was seeing him shackled but wasn’t sure, and didn’t know whether he was taken to the Atarot police station or to the Atarot Shabak (security services) station, even then nothing about the goings-on was exceptional, neither in the incident nor in their conduct, neither in the his being detained nor in his arrest, neither in the cuffs that shackled or didn’t shackle his hands, not even in the moment that so resembled ‘selection’ – “you stand here” and “you can proceed”.
What was exceptional were the shivers I had down my spine. It’s the date (Eve of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day) and my own private connection to what goes on here and what happened there.
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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