Qalandiya - for two hours, pushing, shouting and climbing over the entrances
Total Despair
Four of the five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. but there was no movement forward into them (we had the impression that the soldiers manning them had just arrived and not yet set up the computers and other machinery). Even at this early hour, there was already a mess by the left “cage” (bar-lined passageway leading into the area of the five checking stations) – the one we have been reporting for years as a magnet for violence because it can be entered both from the back and from the side. It was therefore not surprising that the line discipline collapsed at 5:38 and led to the usual melee that consists of mobbing the entrances to the three “cages” – pushing, shouting, whistling, and climbing above the entrances, etc. And so it went on – just imagine – for two hours (and perhaps longer, but due to a commitment at our work place we had to leave the checkpoint after two hours). At 6:30 we saw what might be construed as the beginning of lines reforming to enter the right and middle cages, but they collapsed again a few minutes later.
At 6:10 we called the Humanitarian Line to ask when the gate would be opened. Immediately after we had identified ourselves and before we could announce the purpose of our call, the soldier on the other end of the line (who was evidently aware of the situation at the checkpoint) informed us that the units operating the checkpoint were suffering from a lack of manpower and the Palestinians would just have to be patient. If he thought we would relay this message to the angry and frustrated folks waiting to get to work, he was mistaken. Nothing outrages people waiting to pass through a checkpoint more than the claim that the IDF lacks sufficient manpower to operate the it properly – and rightfully so. But we kept our cool (after all, the soldier on the line was not responsible for the deplorable situation at the checkpoint) and asked about the Humanitarian Gate.
It opened a few minutes after our call, at 6:20, and the soldier and security guard checked every permit thoroughly before allowing people to pass because a crowd of men who are not entitled to pass through it had gathered at it in the hope that, despite it all, they would be allowed to pass through since, for hours, it had been impossible to pass via the three cages without danger to life and limb.
At 7:30, as the melee by the entrance to the three cages continued, we passed through the Humanitarian Gate and exited the security check within 15 minutes.
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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