Hizma, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 8.11.10, Afternoon
15:30, Qalandiya: When we reached Qalandiya, friends told us that there had been no special problems at the CP that day. Lines had been short and the flow of people had been steady. During the afternoon there was no line in the northern shed and the lines in the three active internal passageways had been short. But in Passageway No. 2, two young women from Gazawere waiting, I.D. cards and permits in hand. The two were having trouble. One of them, waiting at the side of the examination area, was weeping quietly. Before we even managed to try and talk with them (and ask for their phone numbers), the two were called into the examination room and we never saw them again. We phoned Headquarters after half an hour and were put through to Keinan. He told us that a number of people from Gazahad been at the DCO offices that day. All of them had received permits and continued on to Gaza, including the two women whom we had seen. we didn't run into any other problems at the CP, which remained fairly empty of people untilabout 16:45. So we sat in the northern shed and spoke with passers by. We met Atef Ali Hassan Malki who told us that his I.D. card had been taken by BP soldiers the previous week at Gib CP and never returned. He didn't know what to do – you can't live without an I.D. card and a new one can cost about NIS450 (over $100) or so they say.
We met 4 charming young men (19 years old) from Nablus. Three of them had received permits to work in agriculture in Moshav Patza'el in the JordanValley. You can't find much work in Nablus. They said they would like to go to pray at the El Aksa Mosque during the Id el Adha holiday next week. Not much chance of that….
We also met a foreman from one of the factories in the AtarotIndustrial Park. He's married with 6 children, living in a town between Jerusalemand Ramallah. Both he and his wife work shifts at Atarot (he works 2 shifts, 14 hours a day). Smiling sadly he told us that the two of them only meet up at the CP because he works nights and she works a day shift. Oh the stories….what a life…. We left Qalandiya at 17:00to drive back to Jerusalem. There were no lines at Lil/Jabba or at Hizmeh CPs.
Hizma
See all reports for this place-
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.
-
Jaba' (Lil)
See all reports for this place-
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)
-
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
See all reports for this place-
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
-