‘Atarot, Hizma, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 5.1.09, Afternoon
People can apparently get used to almost anything, even to the war in Gaza. Although the streets are not bustling as they were in the past, there are more people about, even at Qalandiya CP.
15:15 On our way to Qalandiya we passed by Atarot CP where a long slow line of cars snaked down the hill. We could not see the end of the line which disappeared beyond the bend in the road.
15:30 Qalandiya The little kids peddling chewing gum met us in the parking lot. They told us that groups of older kids had been throwing stones earlier, but we had apparently arrived at a lull in the fighting and vehicular traffic was flowing slowly but uninterruptedly. Two passageways were operating in the pedestrian CP. For the entire duration of our shift they were very crowded and passage was very slow.
A young woman accompanied by 5 very small children, one an infant in arms (frequently in the arms of his "older" brother who could barely carry him), tried to pass through the CP. She presented an out of date permit to the soldier in the passageway and he categorically refused to allow her through, shouting at her in an intimidating manner. We returned with her to the northern shed where she told us that she was a Palestinian married to an Israeli citizen living in Abu Ghosh. She had taken her children to Ramallah with her that morning to visit her mother who had just returned from the Haj pilgrimage and now she was trying to get home. We phoned the DCO representative, K', who told us he would come and see what he could do, but only if she waited 20 minutes until he could make himself available. The woman sat and waited in the shed with her five children until she met an acquaintance who offered to drive her and the children. The woman accepted the offer and said good-bye.
We went through the CP to see what was doing in the vehicle lanes. Traffic was flowing slowly as usual. From the distance we could see that the line at Atarot CP was still very long.
16:20 On our way back to the Palestinian side of the CP we suddenly heard two shots boom out. According to what we were told by bystanders last week, this must have been rubber bullets. But, on emerging from the CP, we could see no rock throwing in the vicinity. On the other hand, a small plot of weeds under the apartment buildings closest to the Wall had apparently caught fire and black, smelly smoke was bllowing into the upper apartments where the family laundry was hanging out to dry on the verandas.
16:45 Inside the CP the lines of people were long and crowded. Progress was very slow. We phoned the "humanitarian hotline" to suggest that they open another line, but our suggestion was not accepted.
17:00 The soldiers started shooting again, we could not see at whom.
17:15 We left Qalandiya and returned to Jerusalem via Lil. The CP was being manned by soldiers from an officers' training course who had replaced the regular unit which is now in Gaza. Although traffic was heavy, it was moving slowly. Hizmeh CP, on the other hand, was completely jammed and the line of vehicles was backed up well beyond the entrance to the village.
'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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