Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Mon 18.10.10, Afternoon
Qalandiya
Monday afternoon, 18.10.2010
15:30, Qalandiya: The CP was slightly more crowded than it has been for weeks. Unfortunately the crowding did not appear to be the result of more people coming to the CP but to inefficiency of the soldiers providing service. Three passageways were active almost all the time, but the soldier in the post in the northern shed kept tight control of the entrance turnstile, slowing down the flow of traffic.
A friend whom we met at the CP told us that the crowding on Monday morning had been unusually heavy and that workers trying to get to their jobs had been delayed at the CP for an hour to an hour and a half.
A man was waiting in Passageway 5, trying to get into the DCO offices. All his attempts to attract the attention of the soldiers in the "aquarium" were to no avail. We phoned the DCO from the northern shed and the man was admitted after a few minutes.
15:45: We entered the CP and got on line in Passageway 2. In front of us on line was a middle aged woman accompanied by a big boy. They managed to reach the examination area after a wait of 10 minutes. The soldiers in the aquarium refused them permission to enter Jerusalem because they had a problem with the 15 year-old boy's birth certificate. In the end, after an argument that lasted another 5 minutes, the two were allowed to continue on their way. Meanwhile a long line had formed behind us and the two soldiers on duty announced that they had closed the passageway, ordering all those waiting to go elsewhere. We phoned headquarters to complain, not so much for ourselves but for those behind us. Keinan intervened and after a few minutes the 2 soldiers went back to work and opened the gate. At the same time they turned on all sorts of electronic equipment that screeched and chirped so loudly that it hurt peoples' ears. However, after Natanya and I had gone through they stopped the punishment.
16:15: Leaving the pedestrian CP, we went to see what was happening at the vehicle section. There appears to be a change in examination procedures. Instead of checking drivers and vehicles in full view of people in the bus station, the examination is now taking place behind and between the checkposts in the vehicle lanes so that people can no longer see what is happening.
On our way back to the northern shed we observed that some of the biometric machines were not operating and that none of the Palestinians returning from work were using them.
16:40: There were 40 people waiting on line in the northern shed waiting to enter the CP. After several minutes one of the internal passageways was closed, exacerbating the problem of crowding. At this point there were many mothers with small children waiting on line in the shed as well as students. We phoned the humanitarian hotline and Keinan as well. Both promised to look into the matter but nothing positive happened.
17:10: We left Qalandiya to return to Jerusalem. The traffic was flowing at Lil/Jabba CP. Just beyond the CP a police car was parked on the road and a policeman was stopping Palestinian vehicles to check their papers.
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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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