Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 21.12.08, Afternoon
The astonishing Pentimento displays on the Qalandia wall exhibit a large
rang of insights that have been collected through out the years:One of the first graphitizes to have been painted on the wall over three
years ago (November 2005), which presented a child holding a bucket of pain and
drawing a crack in the wall as an escape channel, was criticized by the
Palestinians as an effort to "make the wall nicer to look at". It has
now been completely altered: the crack in the wall has been filled with bricks.
There is no way out! Perhaps it is a symbol to the end naivety and optimism.
– The Irish (or British) girl, which like the drawing of the boy has also
been painted by an artist from another country, continent and an all together
different reality, was once being lifted above the wall with the help of her
balloons, but is now standing by a mighty Palestinian bird which shows her how
mistaken she was, since balloons aren't enough when you are trying to over come
the occupation.
– The eye whose pupil was the Palestinian flag has up until lately been
looking down of the pillbox. But now it has been covered with paint and up it
is the letter R, the first letter in the graphite inscription:
"RPMANTIK/POETIK".
Qalandiya
Checkpoint:
16:45 – Two inspection posts were open (4 and 5) during the whole time we
were there. Unfortunately during most of the time they weren't active:There were reoccurring problems that caused the soldier to hand out
every couple of minutes new orders through the load speaker.
-Bippings would suddenly be heard: "Perhaps there's a war"
those standing indifferently by the side would joke.
– A woman who was pushing a
chart with two babies was trying to get the attention of a soldier so that they
would open the "humanitarian" door for her. She had been pressing the
intercom button for a while and that apparently got the soldier angry and she
yelled at her to stop pressing it because it was driving her crazy. A friend of
the mother stood in front of the soldier's post and managed to talk to her and
get her to open the gate. But then they found out that there were other
turnstiles in the way that prevented from the chart to pass, and as the
soldier wasn't able to perform two tasks at a time, she stopped the inspections
for ten minutes until the mother got out of the checkpoint through the southern
side.
17:15 – There was a problem
with the computers: the soldier told those standing in line before her that
only those with blue IDs can pass through lane number 5. However, at lane
number 4, which was intended for those with green IDs, the conveyor belt wasn't
working, and they were asked to pass without their bags. And therefore those
who had Palestinian IDs and had a bag, a pouch of even the smallest package,
were sent back. The time it took to pass the three meters that lead to the soldier was
of 40 minutes. We didn't try to reach the turnstiles but all those new comers pushed
and cramped us up against those who stood before us: it was like a compressor,
the crowd formed a large and tightened block.
Michal, that had never been at this area before, felt sadden and
distressed, which later caused her to feel physically sick until she nearly
passed out.
Will she get used to it?
18:00 – From the parking lot we heard the Muezzin. The soldier who was
aiming at the vehicles was imitating the prayer when shouting out his orders
towards the drivers. He sang those orders as a sign of ridicule their
faith.
Michal was feeling helpless kept saying: "They don't have any respect for
human beings... they don't have any respect…" And I have yet to mention that Qalandiya checkpoint functions these days
as a border passage.
Jaba'a/ Leel checkpoint
18:20 – The checkpoint commander yelled toward us " Ta'al,
Ta'al". Since we didn't answer he tried calling us in English "Come", his
colleague, which also tried getting our attention with English (along side
"checkpoint Arabic" they probably also study "checkpoint
English"), appeared to be trying his luck with Russian. But only then did
we understand that this mélange of languages was meant for us, we came by and
said "Shalom". "Where are you coming from?" the commander asked.
He then
replied "Ramala" (he had a harsh ton as though he was talking to
delinquents).
"No", we said, "From Qalandiya".
"Is there a problem with your car?"
"No".
"So why did you stop here?" he ask in astonishment since he
couldn't imagine to himself what could Israelis be doing in such a hell hole
after dark. We told him who we were and what we were doing, he approached the
car and turn the flag over and again, reading each letter printed on it, he
then asked to see our IDs. Only once he examined them and found something out
(what exactly?), he calmed down and left us alone, he kept on with his work,
which at that moment meant stopping vehicles that were making their way to
Rammala and checking the IDs of their passengers.
The inspections were probably strict as there was a line of 40 cars
standing in a long line which ended by Adam square.
Jaba' (Lil)
See all reports for this place-
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)
See all reports for this place-
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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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