Ar-Ram, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 20.7.08, Afternoon
15:00 A-Ram CP: No Palestinians at the checkpoint.
15:08 Qalandiya: Three passageways, were operating when we arrived, 2,3 and 4. The CP was not crowded and pedestrian traffic was flowing. In spite of the fact that conditions were reasonable, we did find several problems. A young woman with a newborn infant in her arms and pulling a huge heavy suitcase was trying to exit the CP going back towards Ramallah. We phoned to request that they open the "Humanitarian Gate" for her but our request was refused. Somehow, several people standing near her (including the MachsomWatch team) came to her aid and maneuvered the suitcase through the carousel and along the narrow cage attached to it back to the northern waiting shed.
We also met Taysir A-M-M, a resident of Gaza who was trying to get a permit from the Qalandiya DCO allowing him to return home to Gaza. The man, a cancer patient who had been treated in Jordan, had suffered an attack on his trip home and found himself hospitalized in Nablus. Now, on his release, he was trying to complete his journey. We phoned Abu Rukun, the DCO representative, who shepherded him through Passageway 5, where he was briefly questioned by the Shin Bet, to the DCO offices.
15:53: One passageway was closed leaving two active. A line was beginning to form in the northern shed at the entrance to the pedestrian CP. Waiting in the line was a group of young medical students, all women, from a variety of European countries. The group had been visiting hospitals and medical facilities in the West Bank and their impression was that conditions were very poor.
16:10: We passed through the CP and went to visit the vehicle CP. There were no lines and traffic appeared to be flowing. On the other hand, from afar we could see that the lines at Atarot CP were very long, reaching the horizon. We returned to the pedestrian CP.
16:30: Another passageway had been closed, leaving only one active passageway (just as the traffic from Ramallah to Jerusalem was getting heavier). From the northern shed we could see that about 30 people were waiting in the one passageway operating while another 30 to 40 were waiting in line in the northern shed. At this point a group of about 20 teenagers arrived, boys and girls each pulling a huge heavy valise. They joined the line in the shed. The group was on its way to a summer camp in the USA run by the "Seeds of Peace" organization. We couldn't understand how the whole group would make it through the carousels with their valises. We phoned Qalandiya Headquarters and asked them to open the "Humanitarian Gate" for them. After some 15 minutes Abu Rukun appeared together with Shaul the Policeman (whose appearance generally correlates strongly with problems at the CP). The "Gate" was opened and the group entered the CP but Abu Rukun and Shaul did not accompany them any further so they had to maneuver through the carousels in the passageway.
While we were in the northern shed, we met Taysir M' again. He told us that Abu R' had told him to bring a new release letter from the Nablus hospital and that he, Abu Rukun, would phone him when his permit was ready. (Yesterday, Monday, Taysir was still running from Nablus to Ramallah trying to get a permit allowing him to go home. Today, Tuesday, he was told that perhaps his permit would be ready at 2 PM.)
17:11: Only one passageway was open and the line in the northern shed was growing longer and longer. We phoned Hannan who promised to open another passageway.
17:15: Another passageway was opened. At this point about 70 people were waiting on line in the northern shed. We phoned Abu Rukun who shouted at us to stop bothering him. Although the lines in the 2 passageways had grown much shorter, the soldier on duty at the northern CP entrance did not let anyone through the carousel into the CP. The soldier had draped himself comfortably over two chairs, an MP3 earplug firmly in place, and was floating in another world oblivious to what was happening around him. After we called to him for quite a long while, he suddenly returned to reality, looked around and began to work.
17:27: We left Qalandiya for Rafat CP. There we stood in a line of 12 vehicles that passed through the CP in a matter of minutes. The soldiers on duty told us that everyone was allowed through, no restrictions.
18:00: Lil CP, traffic was flowing smoothly.
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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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 FleishmanJun-28-2026Qalandiya. The bridge leading from Jerusalem to the Qalandiya checkpoint
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