Hizma, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 28.6.10, Afternoon
15:30, Qalandiya: Traffic was flowing at the southern entrance to the CP, however a long line of vehicles stretched away into the distance from the northern square along the road from Ramallah. Traffic arrangements at the northern CP entrance are virtually non-existent.
As we arrived at Qalandiya, we saw two ambulances transferring a patient from one to the other in the bus parking lot. At this stage of the process, things were progressing rapidly and efficiently and both ambulances were on their way in only a few minutes.
Inside the pedestrian CP the three active passageways were fairly crowded. In Passageway 4 (which is sometimes reserved for men only), we saw that women were waiting as well and seemed to be getting through with no problems.
In the northern shed, in the barred enclosures leading to the carousels, the enclosure closest to the soldiers' post that usually serves those entering the CP was apparently out of order. This could not be seen from the shed, so somebody took the initiative and, with an impressive display of Israeli army equipment, tied two plastic bags across the entrance to save people the effort of entering only to find the carousel closed. Ludicrous but effective.
There were no lines in the northern shed during our shift at the CP. We entered the CP and stood in Passageway 4. It took us 10 minutes to reach the Jerusalem side. The other passageways were operating at a similar rate.
When we emerged from the CP we saw a truck standing in the bus parking lot. Two men and a boy were busy emptying its load onto the road. One of them told us that he was a Jerusalem resident (blue ID) employed by the city and was moving his family from Kufr Akeb ("a neighborhood" beyond the Wall) into his house in the Old City. He and the truck driver had come to Qalandiya earlier to talk with the Passageway Officer in order to assure that there would be no problems with the move. But when they returned several hours later with the loaded truck, the Officer with whom they had spoken was no longer there and the soldiers on duty delayed their passage and ordered them to unload the truck in the parking lot. We watched as they unloaded valises and cartons, blankets and mattresses (7 kids in the family) on the dirty roadway getting more and more discouraged and angry. After about 10 minutes, the soldier returned with his guard and looked inside the truck at the remaining heavy pieces of furniture, stacked like the pieces of a puzzle. After looking inside the washing machine and the fridge, he was nice enough to allow the group to reload the truck and get on their way.
(I can't help but wonder what would have happened if two grandmotherly types from MachsomWatch had not been standing there and observing.)
By 16:15 a huge traffic jam had developed in the southern square due to the traffic conditions (or lack of them) at the northern entrance.
16:25: There are still 3 active pedestrian passageways.
16:45: Not much traffic, no lines. We left Qalandiya and returned to Jerusalem via Lil/Jabba and Hizmeh. There were no lines at either CP.
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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