‘Atara, Qalandiya, Sun 5.2.12, Afternoon
Translation: Ruth Fleishman
Qalandiya:
Relatives of prisoners were crammed at the parking lot after visiting the jail house. They were mainly women and children. They got on the Red Cross bus that would drive them home.
At the front of the bus
sat the children who had their best outfits on, smiling to the camera. The women smiled gently and responsively. No anger, no hatred no grievance, no opposition. Just weariness and fatigue. Fatigue. Fatigue from being on the road from dark to dark, from dark to dark. Fatigue mixed with the excitement that precedes, the pain that takes over during and the everlasting longing.
We waited in the human pens for the metal bars to open and then to enter the checkpoint for a long while: the soldier who's only duty was to press the opening button, sat and stared at the people standing in the line in front of him. Some tried to get his attention by signaling him and yelling- it was all in vain. He kept on staring.
"He doesn't see us for what we are, human beings", said a young man.
A nine year old child passing the checkpoint alone presented before the soldier at the inside post documents that verified his existence: a birth certificate (Kushan) in nylon and a valid passage permit (Tasrih). After checking his details and the authenticity of his papers, he was forced to answer a series of personal questions that came shooting out of the soldier's mouth and could be heard throughout the checkpoint: "what's your father's name…- and what's your mothers…", and only after giving the precise answers when interrogated by the women who was seated and protected from ticking bombs such as this little adult child, was he permitted to head on to the other side of the checkpoint.
Atara/ Bir Zeit:
Curiosity got a reserve soldier to come down from the pillbox, after having communicated with us through barbed wire.
During the conversation with him we learned that: "this is not a checkpoint, it's an observation post" (a definition we had yet to hear). 
That they, the soldiers, don't hassle the Palestinians driving there too much, they descend from the tower "only when they must…" and that their quarters aren't located in the settlement Halamish (as past reserve soldiers had said) but in the settlement Atara: "They are much worse than the ones in Halamish".
Bellow, by the pillbox, laid in splendor a ragged flag that the wind had entrapped inside a coil of barbed wire.
'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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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-8-2025Qalandiya: Emptiness in public space
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