Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 19.8.12, Afternoon
Translation: Ruth Fleishman
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Eid-Al- Fiter– the holiday that marks the end of the Ramadan month and the anniversary of the completion of the writing of the Quran. A holiday of forgiveness, peace and fraternity. During this day it is customary to visit relatives and friends, stay at their homes, reconcile the hawks and settle disputes.
The large crowd at the checkpoint was greeted by filth and shrieking voices coming out of the PA system.
A foreign student whose visa had expired presented before the soldier an official document with an extension. The soldier who wasn't certain whether or not it was valid, told her to go to the fifth lane: "to the Muhabarat" he said.
We followed her to the lane which up until that moment we understood to be the one leading to the DCO offices. But the shout that the soldier in charge of opening the turnstile sounded, over and over again every few minutes: "Bas el-barid, wa-el-muhabarat!" removed our doubts (if indeed we had any), regarding the identity of the operators of the occupation, the bureaus that decide the fate of the Palestinians- whether for correction or for mercy, and it had also emphasized that the humanitarian hot lines or the health and co-ordination hotlines, are only but a fig leaf hiding the disgrace of the occupation.
And as for the student- she was swallowed inside the back rooms and as she had a European citizenship, it is likely that no harm will come to her.
Jaba checkpoint:
The commander that crossed the road and ask who we were and why, explained that the checkpoint was supposed to prevent Jews from heading in the direction of 
Qalandiya. "That place", he said, "is known to be dangerous and there had been incidents…" and he told us that the passing month, the Ramadan, was boring because their activity was limited, but now they were supposed to get back to their routine – to patrol inside the Palestinian villages in the area and invade homes, and not for nothing, but to make arrests.
When asked why his soldiers also detain vehicles with Palestinian plates he replied that it was important to have them searched from time to time. He didn't think or assume that he would actually find anything suspicious, but just that "it's important that the Palestinian know that they are always being examined…"
In the IDF lingo this activity in called: creating a sense of persecution.
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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