Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, יום א’ 16.8.09, אחה”צ
Atara/ Bir Zait checkpoint
Marian, our friend, received a text message informing her about tens of vehicles detained at Atara checkpoint. We hurried and arrived at the place at 15:40. We stood by the pillbox and saw that there traffic, on both directions, was smoothly flowing.
The light that was turned on, the generator's clattering, the empty cans of food, the military foil pot which on it was written in capital letters (just in case the soldiers were wondering): "Kosher" and "Meat", and the leftovers surrounding, were all silent evidence that this checkpoint is in fact manned on occasions.
We decided to look for the people who had taken part in the incident that had occurred at the "checkpoint that hadn't been removed at Bir Zait/ Atara (on the 12th of July- as was reported and filmed in the report from that date), in order to find out what had really happened to Yusuf, the bus driver, at the confined area, and to find out what had caused these people (especially the leader of this group) to react as they did to Yusuf's arrest.
We headed off with only the name of the village and the photos of the people in question. We managed to find Yusuf in no time, he was with his family. At first he felt awkward about the unexpected visit and our curiosity regarding him, but soon enough he got over it and was willing to fill us in with the missing blanks of the story: yes, he had indeed, as expected, been beaten up in the confined area as had been promised to him. He managed to identify the two soldiers that had beaten him up in the photos. They used not only their hands to hit him, but also their rifle. But Yusuf didn't think this was an exceptional incident. Since he passes through the checkpoint twice a day, he has much experience with the soldiers' aggression and he is even used to performing the "Neighbor Routine".
We referred him to Yesh Din's investigator and gave him the required information and details, in case he would like to place a complaint. It's highly doubtable that he will. After all it is the soldiers' word against the word of a Palestinian.
The result of a complaint in such circumstances is a given.
The rest of the people weren't at their homes when we arrived. We found out that A, the person who led the resistance, used to be a political prisoner in the Israeli jail and that he now works in Ramalla, in the high committee for English studies in the PA. The younger men who had also taken part in the resistance and wouldn't move when the captain ordered it, were students (by the content of their bags that Yuduf was forced to reveal before us all, we assumed it was so).
Jaba/Leel:
We were driving on the opposite direction to our regular route: to Qalandia and not from it. The checkpoint that is supposed to stop Israelis/Jews from heading on west, from fear that settler might get lost, had detained us.
The soldiers told us to turn our car and head back: we have a warrant". We knew they had one. We have once seen it and taken a copy of it. Nonetheless we still clamed to have the right to head on, or at least to see their warrant.
"Just a moment", said the checkpoint commander. We parked our car when Palestinian vehicles are parked when being inspected, right inside the checkpoint; usually we aren't allowed to even stand there. The commander's "moment" grew longer, and we hadn't yet seen the warrant. "The company commander we bring it in a few minutes", said the commander. He and his comrades we glad to have us as company, something to entertain them and cure their boredom, as opposed to their mates who looked at us with resentment and hurried to walk away from us. We heard the every night, when their shift is over, they get a pep talk during which they hear over and over again (and over again) how important is their job. They were informed that: "Just a week ago a Jew almost got lynched after he entered Ar-Ram!".
–It's always a lynch (in the pep talks), it's always "almost" and always at a Jew.
After a while the two soldiers with whom we were talking, admitted that there was little sense in not allowing us to head on, after all, the road leading to the opposite direction, into Qalandia, wasn't blocked.
"But", said the commander," it's an order, and I am just following my orders…"
He asked us with anger "What can I do to help?"– we didn't' need his help, and only asked that they don't get in our way. But he/they did get in our way: we couldn't complete our shift. The major stop the traffic on both directions so that we could make a u-turn with out any problems (after all we are privileged Jews) and we headed back.
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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