Hizma, Qalandiya
Qalandiya and Hizma
Three days of closure in the West Bank – with simple calculation – make four days of closure (Saturday, New Year’s Eve and the two days of Rosh Hashana/New Year’s).
This year, the two days of the Hebrew New Year happen to fall precisely on the two days of the Muslim New Year, and while the Jews traveled and celebrated and visited family and friends, the neighbors on the dark side of the wall – could not.
At the village of Hizma.
The concrete slab barriers have disappeared and the way in and out of the village is now open again.
Not so the soldiers: rather than disappearing, they have spread a shade over the village slopes and turned it into their position where they spend all hours of the day and night (on the lower left side of the photo).
Nor have the army’s harassments of the inhabitants disappeared. The latter tell us that “sometimes the soldiers put up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village and write down every person who enters”.
And there’s – as always – the mantra “this is where stones are thrown”, repeated by woman first-sergeant as she disembarked from a vehicle with army license plates but painted in civilian colors, with the inscription on its side: “Ram battalion/ the fighting family”.
Perhaps it’s just me, but the two words “fighting family”, taken from another century (20th) and days of other terrorist activity (Stern Gang/Lehi/Irgun) give me the shivers.
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 FleishmanJun-8-2025Qalandiya: Emptiness in public space
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