Al Jib (Givat Zeev), Qalandiya, Sun 23.6.13, Morning
Qalandiya
We arrived just after 5 am and there were many people on line
People looked very tired,very exhausted ,very quiet. The line was moving and this morning it took between 14 to 34 minutes from the end of the line until exit from the checkpoint. This always explains the discrepancy between the time quoted by the Army and us. The Army naturally measures and times the time from entry to the checking area where you show your documents and have your bag checked until exit from the checkpoint – when all is well it can take 5 to 7 minutes but it might have taken you one hour to get to that stage.
Today there was an incident at the humanitarian gate. A woman came with a very sick and mentally sick child. She was accompanied by a man . The policeman did not want to listen to the man and just ordered him in a very aggressive way to disappear and join the regular line. The man, indeed, is not the woman's husband, just distant relative from the same village who wanted to assist her and carry her bags because she was holding the child. We know that we can't even communicate with the policeman and so we just stood there and could not intervene.
Same thing happened with a young boy on the way to hospital appointment who came with a man who was not his father- no way could they go through to the CHECKING AREA!!!! together- the boy went through the humanitarian gate and the man the long line for the others. Not a life and death situation but exactly the futile harassment is the issue
Al Jib
We arrived at about 7am and in the bucolic atmosphere we saw many people and heard that often it is a terribly long wait and that we should come more often.
A man who has a little kiosk told us some people arrive at 3am to secure a place and the soldiers told us that they keep the checkpoint opened and whenever anyone arrives they let them through.
And true enough we met a very friendly soldier whom we knew from Qalandiya who really supervised the line so that people go through at regular intervals. we wondered what it is like when he is not around. While we were there about 200 people went through
Al-Jib CP Givat Zeev (Jerusalem)
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Al-Jib CP GivatZeev (Jerusalem)
It is located on the separation fence, west of the al-Jib enclave. The checkpoint is regularly manned by Border Police and private security companies. Palestinians are not allowed to cross except for residents of the al-Khalaila neighborhood of the village of al-Jib, residents of al-Jib who own land on the western side of the fence, residents of a-Nabi Samuel, which is their only access road to Ramallah and the villages in northwest Jerusalem, as well as Palestinians with work permits in the Givat Zeev settlement and UN workers passing through UN vehicles.
(Updated January 2020)
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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 FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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