Qalandiya
A light but frustrating morning
We arrived at 6:00 and parked on the northern (“Palestinian”) side of the checkpoint (a mistake; see below). First we greeted our friend Abu Ramzi (the baigale seller), who has moved his cart to the “porch” at the entrance to the pedestrian checkpoint, and found him in a upbeat mood. Business this morning was so good that he had to walk over to the area of Kufr Aqeb to buy additional baigale before 7:00. We then moved to the foot of the steps leading to the three entrances to the checkpoint and remained there till 7:05. All the while the newcomers flowed freely into the checkpoint and no lines built up. No one approached us for help, which is essentially the reason for our presence there. (One man asked to be helped out with paying a relative’s fine and expressed disappointment when he felt our charity was insufficient.) Only when we ourselves entered the building did we see that due to the soldiers’ poor regulation of the intake, the vestibule leading to the security-check hall was jam -packed with people. And due to pressure to get to work on time, we decided to forgo the security check and returned to our cars to leave the area via the Hizmeh checkpoint.
On the way to the Hizmeh road, the usually empty vehicle checkpoint between a-Ram and the hookup to Route 60 was manned, causing the first traffic jam of the morning. Traffic on the Hizmeh road was likewise jammed. And on the east-west section of road in Pisgat Ze’ev leading to the intersection with Route 60 south toward Jerusalem, the traffic hardly moved at all for almost 40 minutes (due, we later saw, to both a broken traffic light and an accident that blocked one of the lanes). All together it took an hour and a quarter to get from Qalandiya to French Hill (which with light traffic would take about 15 minutes). Essentially we spent more time in traffic jams than at the checkpoint itself and ended the shift severely frustrated over having wasted so much time, as we really had nothing beneficial to show for it.
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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