Hizma, Qalandiya
Qalandiya and Hizma
The father of the man in the yellow shirt has suffered a stroke and is hospitalized at Hadassah, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem.
The son reported to the DCO to get an extension for his permit to continue nursing his father.
The permit has is valid until the next day. He also has an official form from the hospital, stating that the son’s presence at his father’s bedside is vital and necessary.
“No problem”, he was told. “But there’s a stamp missing here, and a date here, and the doctors should write in the form until when your father is expected to be hospitalized. And anyway your father’s permit is valid only until tomorrow, so come tomorrow and bring whatever’s missing and it should be stamped and signed and everything written in, and then we’ll give you the permit just as you were issued two weeks ago.”
When I wondered whether the man lying in hospital paralyzed and helpless will be officially considered an illegal alien beginning tomorrow, an officer said to me: “I don’t speak to you”. “But I am speaking to you”, I said. “You’re air as far as I’m concerned”, he replied.
In Hizma Village
Until Sunday, the only place I ever saw so many armed men in one village was in the movies.
Four Border Police vehicles sped through the alleys.
Children playing outdoors clung anxiously to house walls.
At the only entrance to the village, only half opened (the others have been blocked for a month and a half now) combined forces of army, police and Border Police were stationed.
Six youngsters were detained by the roadside, their IDS taken and they were released only after half an hour.
Every vehicle entering the village was required to stop, the contents of its trunk removed onto the road, bags were opened and inspected, and passengers interrogated.
Is there a knife in the car?
Did anyone throw stones?
Has anyone been in jail?
Does anyone have any business with the police?
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-25-2025Qalandia: West Bank man injured in both legs
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