‘Atarot, Qalandiya, Mon 21.12.09, Afternoon
21.12.2009
Natanya G. and Phyllis W. (reporting)
15:30: Atarot: There was no line at the CP.
15:40: Qalandiya: All the cages in the northern shed were full of people (ca. 60) and the internal passageways were full as well. The soldier on duty in the booth in the northern shed showed signs that he was paying attention to his surroundings and, at first, opened the carousels permitting entry to the CP every time the internal passageways emptied out. (Unfortunately, his attention span evaporated very quickly.)
When the wait in the cages began to lengthen, after about a quarter of an hour, we phoned headquarters and called their attention to what was going on. Very shortly all the carousels opened and all the people entered the CP. Only one cage in the shed remained active and quickly filled up with 30 new clients.
16:00: We noticed that the internal lines were not moving at all. When they once again began to move we decided to get on line as well. It took us only 5 minutes to pass through the CP to the Jerusalem side, but then it turned out that we were the last to get through and afterwards there was a period of 15 minutes when nothing moved. Natanya asked two security guards what was causing the delay and they answered, "Who cares, it's only Palestinians." We could not discover what was causing the problems so that we concluded that it was all the result of indifference and lack of consideration on the part of the soldiers.
Inside the passageway the DCO had hung up many signs inviting the residents of Beit Hanina, Bir Nabala and A-Ram who had lost their security clearance to come to the DCO offices on December 28th between 8:30 AM and 12 Noon.
We went through the CP once again. The lines had begun to get shorter. From the southern square we could see that the line of cars at Atarot now reached as far as the turn in the road.
17:05: There were no more lines at Qalandiya CP. We left to return to Jerusalem. At Lil/Jabba CP the line of 12 cars was moving slowly. There was no line at Hizmeh.
18:10: I passed through Atarot on my way to Tel Aviv. There was no line of cars..
'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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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 FleishmanApr-16-2025Qalandiya: summer fruit
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