Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya
A surprisingly calm morning.
We arrived at 5.15 and immediately we arrived we felt the difference. There were no lines reaching into the car park. Few cars were in the parking lot. The longest line was not more than a few minutes. We do not remember anything like this on a Sunday morning. We ask why this morning is different from others. Some say because of the rain. But surprising.
Five young men from the same family, residents of Kubeiba are forced to return. They think that this is because a cousin was involved in the “messup in Jerusale, ( probably in a terrorist attack).” They show us their work permits so as to see what we can do to help.
The humanitarian gate does not open. There is no necessity. A man who arrives with his young son who has to go to hospital only has a work permit but is allowed through. We wait to see if he will return but he does not do so.
The shed is only lit by three neon signs. At 5 am it is very dark. We try to find out who is responsible for this. The soldier does not know. One promises to find out. The coffee seller says that only Menashe can help.
Everything is going so quickly that we feel we are redundant. We leave towards seven.
On the other hand the road is in confusion. The trip to Jerusalem took us nearly an hour.
Natanya: Once more there was a long line at Jaba (Lil) . Drivers were turning back which made the journey very dangerous. We went back to Qalandiya checkpoint where the traffic was catastrophic. We went back to Lil which opened up to some extent and Israeli cars were let through. Is this another collective punishment?
The five men mentioned before all work at the same place. On Friday also they were turned back. Sua with whom I was having a lesson spoke to the one and suggested that they get the boss to see what he could do. I am sure that also for him to lose five workers and they have been with him for over ten years is a loss. They are desperate. Two of them phoned me at least 3 or 4 times in the morning asking me if I had been able to find out anything for them. I also gave them Sylvie’s number. I spoke to Hana and she said that that they should try again in a week or so. I ask why exacerbate the situation with men who obviously only want to make a living. A stupid question I know. As a taxi driver said to me this morning …from Zur Bachar…talking about young children carrying out terrorist attacks……if you choke a cat does it not scratch?
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 FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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