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Hizma, Qalandiya
Observers: Cheli Edelman and Tamar Fleishman; Translator: Tal H.
“On the three crimes of Israel” (Amos 2)
- On the demolition orders that were issued during Ramadan month to home owners opposite the Qalandiya refugee camp
- On the nightly raids by the Israeli army of a family home on the outskirts of Hizma village. On the soldiers who sit for hours on the roof, always in the wee hours of the night, always making noise, sometimes shooting as we3ll. On the entrance door to the home that they have broken a long time ago. On the fears and nightmares of the family members, on the thoughts: “Will they come tonight?> – Perhaps they won’t come tonight because they have a holiday too? –And what will happen tomorrow?” Thus, three times every week. About the fears and traumas of the family’s children, accumulating, without solace.
In Israeli army lingo this procedure is named “straw widow”. And what is it called on the day of the Jewish celebration of the giving of the Torah?
- On Ashraf’s withheld weeping, voiceless, beginning with tears and trembling, a weeping that began with his covering his face with his hands while speaking about the martyrs from the refugee camp, and focusing on Ali Khalife, Ashraf’s youth friend, whom Israeli soldiers shot in the back and murdered 8 years ago, about the weeping that grew stronger when at his request I gave Ashraf the photo I took of Ali, the last in his short life.
- And so – as in all the cases before that, and after that – the Israeli army shoots, kills, and looks into it. Looked/looks/will look into it.
- And this weeping of Ashraf’s keeps bubbling inside us, in Cheli and myself, for hours, for days on end.
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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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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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