‘Atara, ‘Atarot, Hizma, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 8.12.08, Afternoon
very few people on the move. At Atara, and Qalandiya as well,
the traffic was mainly of people celebrating the Id el-Adha holiday,
on their way to visit members of their families. At Atara we saw
car loads of parents and happy children. At Qalandiya we met parents
and children waiting on the lines to enter Jerusalem to visit their
families.
14:10
We drove to Qalandiya via Atarot CP. At this hour there was very
little traffic at either CP.
14:50 Atara: The
soldiers standing in the CP were not interfering with the traffic which
was flowing freely in all directions. There were no lines at all.
15:50 Qalandiya:
Two passageways were operating and there were no lines.
16:00: A family from Abu
Dis, two parents in their fifties with proper permits accompanied by
their 12-year old daughter, is trying to cross the CP to visit their
other daughter and grandchildren in Jerusalem. The female soldier
in Passageway No. 4 yells at them (and everyone in the CP can hear the
offensive shouting over the PA system) that the 12-year old's birth
certificate is no good because it's only a photocopy. She shouts
that the parents can go through but not their daughter and then orders
them to leave the CP. We couldn't understand what the problem
was – all the children present photocopies of their birth certificates,
no one uses an original. We phoned the DCO and told a soldier
on duty, Sagi, what had happened. He promised to look into it.
After a few minutes he returned our call and explained that the problem
was not the photocopy but that the birth certificate was Palestinian
and therefore not acceptable. A Palestinian child must present
a permit just like an adult (and not like the child of parents with
blue ID's). No one was willing to take responsibility and show
some flexibility, taking into account the fact that this was simply
a family celebrating the holiday. We were unable to help.
Two passageways were still operating
with only a few people on line but the wait was quite long as the soldiers
were not very efficient. Saul the Policeman arrived at the control
room between passageways 4 and 5. With him present, it was clear
that everyone would be working to the book – no chance for flexibility.
16:45: The soldiers announced
over the PA system that passageway 5 was serving holders of blue ID's
only (i.e. Jerusalem residents and citizens of Israel).
The soldiers continually shout instructions
over the PA system to those waiting on line. Their shouts are
literally painful to the ears. It's getting dark and much much
colder. Greetings from Israel on the occasion of the Id el Adha
celebration!
17:00: There are only a
few people in the CP and the lines are short. We finish our shift
and head back to Jerusalem. On our way we passed Lil CP and, to
our surprise, saw that the road had been fixed and was once again smooth
(not scrubbed). The soldiers at Lil were not interfering with
the flow of traffic. At Hizmeh CP, on the other hand, the line
of cars was backed up to the entrance to the village (about 1 mile).
'Atara
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'Atara Checkpoint
Situated at the northern entrance to Ramallah from Route 465, called also Bir Zeit Checkpoint. Nowadays only remains of what used to be a busy checkpoint remain, a pillbox and concrete blocks.
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'Atarot
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Atarot
Atarot was a workers' settlement destroyed during the War of Independence, where the Arab village of Qalandiya now stands, in the southwestern part of Atarot Airport, built by the British Mandate. After 1967, the Atarot industrial zone was established nearby, and until the completion of the wall from the Qalandiya checkpoint to Road 443, a checkpoint was in place. A new Jewish neighborhood is currently planned for the old airport area.
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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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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