Ar-Ram, Hizma, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 19.1.09, Afternoon
I got stuck in traffic approaching French Hill and came late. I came via A-Ram CP where I saw only a few cars and no pedestrians or detainees. The road to Qalandiya via Beit Hanina was blocked by a huge truck so I had to go via Dahiyat el-Barid and A-Ram. In Dahiya Square, just before the gate in the Wall, work is being done on the road on the Jerusalem side of the Wall and, as a result, the Wall has been pushed eastward, biting off a considerable chunk of the Square. The road on the eastern (i.e. Palestinian) side of the Wall has been completely destroyed creating large potholes that have filled up with water and mud. It's very difficult to drive there and even harder to get through on foot.
15:50: The lines in Qalandiya CP were still very long. We phoned Mahdi (Commander of the Passageways Unit) who, unusually for him, actually answered our call. We reported conditions at the CP to him and asked him to help. He promised to see what he could do. Although he didn't open any other passageways, waiting time got much shorter – perhaps he told his soldiers to work more efficiently.
16:00: We went out to the Northern Square to see what was happening at the vehicle CP. We counted 7 buses waiting in the Square to enter the CP.
16:08: We returned to the pedestrian CP in the shed and got in line with the others. While we were waiting, a friend phoned us from Ramallah and told us that at this very hour he was participating in a large and impressive demonstration for peace that was taking place in the center of Ramallah. He estimated that there were about 10 thousand people there from all parts of the West Bank (including Nablus, Hebron, Qalqilya and Tul Karem), from all the political and NGO organizations and they were all demanding that the Arab leaders bring peace to the region. A young woman standing in line with us overheard the conversation and said that she too had participated in the demonstration. We guess that participation in the demonstration was the reason for the unusually large crowds at Qalandiya early on Monday afternoon. Interestingly, there was no mention at all of any demonstration for peace in the Israeli media.
In any event, at this time it took us only 12 minutes to pass through the CP and emerge on the Jerusalem side of the barrier. The lines behind us were now quite short. Traffic in the vehicle CP was moving as usual. From the distance we could see that the lines at Atarot CP were very long, stretching beyond the horizon (as usual).
16:30: We returned to the pedestrian CP. Two passageways were open (4 and 5) but there were almost no people waiting in line.
17:00 We left Qalandiya to return to Jerusalem via Lil and Hizmeh CPs. At Lil there are now command booths on both sides of the road (both on the lane going East and on the lane going West), but the soldiers were not interfering with traffic and there were no lines. The approach to Hizmeh CP was very crowded but lines were moving slowly and the wait was not long.
A-Ram
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two kilometers south of Qalandiya and 300 metres north of Neve Yaacov Junction, in Dahiyat el-Barid Quarter. Checkpoint has operated since 1991, in a Palestinian area annexed to Jerusalem in 1967. The checkpoint has been inactive since the middle of 2009.
The wall was built on the road that led to Jerusalem. Since then the situation in the town has deteriorated. Houses are abandoned and half finished, most of the businesses have closed. Severe neglect around the fence and on the streets. Those who could left. Updated January 2024
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Hizma
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Hizma
A checkpoint at the north-eastern entrance to the Jerusalem area which was annexed in 1967, at Pisgat Zeev. The passage is allowed to bearers of blue IDs only. Open 24 hours a day.
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Jaba' (Lil)
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Jaba' (Lil) In fact, the Jaba checkpoint is east of the Qalandiya checkpoint. Its declared purpose is the prevention of Israeli citizens from entering Area A. A road checkpoint for vehicles, located on Road 65, borders the southern fence of Kfar Jaba, about three kilometers east of the Qalandiya checkpoint, on the road leading to the settlement of Adam on Road 60. Archaeological excavations within the village found the remains of a cloth house from the First Temple period. The events that led to the construction of the checkpoint are precisely here: on the day of the abduction of Gilad Shalit and before the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a 17-year-old man from one of the settlements was abducted by a Palestinian cell. His body was found several days later at the entrances to Ramallah. A military investigation revealed that his abductors had taken him along this route. The checkpoint was set up to prevent future kidnappings and to warn settlers from traveling to Ramallah and entering Area A (which is forbidden for Israelis). The checkpoint that operates around the clock. Usually only vehicles traveling in the direction of Ramallah are inspected. (November 2016): Every morning, when the settlers en masse travel to Jerusalem on Route 60 and every afternoon they return from Jerusalem on Route 60, the army initiates a traffic jam at the entrance to the Jaba checkpoint and stops the movement of Palestinians traveling toward Route 60. (February 2020): In the last two years the checkpoint has not always been manned. Sometimes the soldiers come and just stand, sometimes they come and stop and check those who enter the village, sometimes they patrol the alleys of the village, sometimes they fire stun grenades and gas and sometimes they invade houses and stop young people, say those passing through the Hazma checkpoint. (Updated February 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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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