‘Atara, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 24.11.08, Afternoon
At this hour at Atara there were no lines at all, and contrary to what
we saw last week, there were no spiky tire traps laid on the road out
of the village. The soldiers had organized the CP so that there
were three passages in operation: one for traffic into Bir Zeit,
one for traffic leaving Bir Zeit and one for traffic out of Atara Village.
Traffic was flowing and there were no apparent problems.
We left after a 15-minute visit.
On our way to Qalandiya we detoured to
visit Beit El, a big settlement draped over several hilltops with impressive
villas and many institutions (mostly educational) with many caravans
interspersed. The industrial park on the periphery looked abandoned.
16:46:
Qalandiya. Two passageways were open. There were no
lines, neither inside the CP nor in the northern shed. We passed
through to the vehicle CP in less than 5 minutes. There were no
lines there as well but we could see from afar a long line of cars at
the Atarot CP. However traffic there was moving quite quickly
– the cars were not stopped at the CP, just slowed down and continued
on their way. We returned to the pedestrian CP.
17:10: The soldiers stopped
work for a break, closing one of the passageways. Only Passageway
No. 3 remained open. It didn't take much time before the lines
lengthened causing the soldier in the northern post to lock the carousel
at the CP entrance. A line formed in the northern shed and grew
longer and longer. Within 15 minutes there were 30 people waiting
in Passageway No. 3 and another 20 or so were waiting in the pen in
the shed.
17:25: We called the humanitarian
hotline to complain about the length of the lines and they promised
to make inquiries. Very shortly thereafter a second passageway
was opened.
Why is it that the soldiers have to
take a lunch break just as people are getting out of work and trying
to get home? Why can't they break earlier or later or even
stagger it?
Three Palestinian youngsters (aged 14
and 15) came up to us and told us anxiously that the younger brother
of one, 14-year old Basil, had been detained while trying to pass through
the CP for presenting what the soldiers in the passageway insisted was
a forged birth certificate. The soldiers were holding the boy
in an isolation room in the passageway and had sent the other three
back (taking another birth certificate from one of them).
We phoned Mahdi who didn't answer (and
didn't return our call although we had left a message asking him to).
So we phoned Daniel, the officer in charge of security. Despite
the fact that he was not on duty at the CP (he had worked the morning
shift) he phoned the soldiers to find out what was happening.
Basil emerged from the CP barely 2 minutes before Daniel called back
to tell us that his soldiers had told him that Basil had been released
already. (I suspect that it was Daniel's call that caused his release.)
The boy told us that the soldiers had
shouted at him and that one had even slapped his face but another soldier
had intervened and told him to stop.
17:30: The children went
home, the lines were moving and so we left as well. On our way
back to Jerusalem we passed through Lil CP. The soldiers there
were not interfering with the flow of traffic.
'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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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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