Atarot, Qalandiya, Wed 9.1.08, Afternoon
First day of Bush's visit, curfew in all the West Bank.
The soldiers checking at the new checkpoint near the Atarot industrial compound, just out of the 443 road, are rather unmotivated and therefore the waiting line is not prolonged.
At the Qalandiya checkpoint there are many cars crossing north from Jerusalem. At the pedestrian lane a man with a permit, who works in Ramallah and lives in one of the neighborhoods south of the checkpoint, is not allowed to cross the checkpoint and reach his home. With a very mild tone of voice he explains that his permit was not accepted and then, without raising his voice and as if he was very tired, he tells us: F..k Bush, F..k Israel, F..k you.
There are less people than usual crossing southward, although we see youngsters with books so some educational institution must be open, despite the preparations in Ramallah for Bush's visit.
Out of the 3 turnstiles placed outside of the checking area, only 1 is open but since it doesn't show any light (neither red=closed nor green=open) all Palestinians who try to enter the checking area believe it is not working and try to go through the other 2 turnstiles. The soldier sitting inside the booth placed beside the turnstiles looks at how they all have to try the 3 different turnstiles until they find the turnstile that is open – a game of trial and error. This additional harassment and humiliation makes people furious.
At 17:00 p.m. many workers return from Jerusalem; they could obviously go out in the morning to work so some permits must have been accepted.
Despite the fact that at this site there has been a checkpoint of some sort for almost 7 years (the first checking took place in the summer of 2001), still the soldiers are quite illiterate in Arabic: they say words that sound like Arabic and then shout them out when Palestinians don't understand what they say.
'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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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