Qalandiya: “Only God can help us”
Once again, mysterious, unresolved remains are observed at the same point at the top of the wall.
Again, the remains of clothes of one person or more were caught in the barbed wire. Remains of clothes were also seen on the road, Again, one cannot tell what happened to their owner/s.
Acquaintances tell of shots taken at the dark of night or in the wee hours of the morning, of soldier and police ambushes in strategic places, they say there are youngsters arrested, wounded and killed among those who are desperate and endangering their lives as they climb the one side of the wall and go down the other either by rope or simply jumping where they would look for work and bring food to their hungry family members.
- I repeat this again and again, as reality forbids permits, work or livelihood – this is the shout (mine as well), joining the shout of hunger and want.
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“Only God can help us” – that is how I was welcomed by an old acquaintance. Needless to go on and tell of the hardships, want and difficulties already detailed and told all these recent years, and especially since October 7, 2023 when their lives were entered by the assault they had not initiated, like their brothers in the Gaza Strip, its victims.
Taking leave from my acquaintance, even the sweetness of the local apricots could not spare the sour taste of desperation.
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For over twenty years I cross the Qalandiya Checkpoint in the direction of Jerusalem, often detained, my ID taken away, at times asked what I was doing there, on the Palestinian side which according to the soldiers, I am forbidden to enter. At times, my answer, “I was visiting friends”, is enough to release the male or female soldier’s gesture telling me without words “wait here on the side”. And minutes go by – often many, at times a few – until some unseen authority assures that I am okay.
This time, things were different. The girl soldier whom I trusted with my ID stared at me and asked me, shocked: “Are you Jewish?”
On days when even a resistance shirt activates the police force, no wonder my official ID created the kind of crazy scene at the inspection post on my way back.
After the soldier repeated again and again her question “Are you Jewish?”, I answered that the question is illegitimate and I do not intend to answer it. Again, I was detained, again the soldier called someone and again I was released.
On the other side of the post stood an armed security guard. I asked him what was meant by what I had been asked. “Because Jews are not allowed to be there”, he answered. “They are”, I answered. “Since the breakout of the war, the law has changed and they are not allowed”, he ruled.
Location Description
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 FleishmanJun-14-2026Qalandiya. Clothing remnants on the barbed wire atop the Kalandia wall
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