Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 23.1.11, Afternoon
With ambiguity and obscurity, that had become part of the Palestinians' day to day life, the sovereign rules.
Qalandiya checkpoint:
The start of a collective punishment is always known. The end is never clear. With ambiguity and obscurity, that had become part of the Palestinians' day to day life, the sovereign rules.
The passage was closed for about ten minutes. While we waited among the entrapped between the turnstiles, we managed to talk with two residents from the village Ktana, who are employed at the factory "Of Yerushlaim" and that were in a hurry to arrive at Atarot industrial site. We also spoke to a student that was worried he wouldn't arrive on time for his test, but there were many others whose story we couldn't hear.
Everyone knew that we were the reason for this punishment. We were surprised when no one expressed their anger or resent towards us, but greeted us with certain cheerfulness for meeting someone that speaks aloud about what troubles them, they told us stories from their personal experiences from the checkpoint.
The question: "why won't you open the passage before these good people?", which was directed at the soldier in charge of pressing the most important of the checkpoint buttons (the one which locks and opens it), wasn't appreciated, and after ridiculing the phrase "fine people", the soldier bestowed upon us his generosity.
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When we reached the other side of the checkpoint we witnessed the final stages of a process in which an elder and sick man on oxygen who arrive from Mukased hospital, was taken out of his ambulance and placed in a Palestinian ambulance, which was to take him back to his home in Qalkiliya.
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A police officer and a BP soldier stood on the road heading to Palestine: when felt the urge, the stopped vehicles, when they didn't feel it, they ignored them. They had a chain of spikes beside them waiting to be placed on the road. We asked what the purpose of this activity was, the like of which we had never witnessed, and they said: "We're looking for suspects".
Jaba checkpoint
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"It's a breathing checkpoint!", we learned a new phrase which means: a checkpoint that the Palestinians pass through without many difficulties.
It was dark when we arrived: the place looked like the ghost of a deserted checkpoint, and only the shadows of the soldiers at the post indicated that not only was the checkpoint breathing, but that is was alive and well…
We were told that the fuel tanks had run out, that they were fixing the problem and that the checkpoint would be light again in a few minutes.
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-26-2026Qalandiya. Things you see on the way
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