Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 24.6.12, Afternoon
Translating: Ruth Fleishman
Qalandiya checkpoint:
It was just after two o'clock, said the cab drivers and the peddlers, a man who was driving his son to be hospitalized in east Jerusalem was beaten up at the vehicle checkpoint. They didn't know why the man wasn't permitted to drive on, they stood by the wall that surrounds the parking lot and saw a number of civil guards attack the man: "They let him fall and hit his body and head, with their hands and the cane attached to the rifle they beat him, his women stood near b and yelled". They also said that an officer that arrived pulled away one of the attackers but that didn't end the burst of violence: "it went on for ten minutes, maybe fifteen… had there not been a wall here we would have gone in and…". They talked not only of the physical violence, those who observed were verbally attacked: "why did they slander my mother? Is that right?" a young man asked with insult.
In preparation towards the Ramadan Fridays?
At the exit of the vehicle checkpoint there were deep holes with metal bars- infrastructure for a mechanism that allows the checkpoint to be locked with the press of a distanced button, we had already seen it used in El-Jib. This will make the checkpoint more technologically progressed and as a result, as hard it is to believe, even less humane.
Jaba- Village and Checkpoint:
The entrance to the village had existed for hundreds of years, but several years ago it was closed by large rocks as it stands in front of the road leading to Adam settlement, and that can't be pleasant…
Ever since it was closed one must drive around, enter Ar-Ram and cross the main road between Qalandiya and road 60 using the bridge.
At the main hall of the mosque that was a victim of the settlers violence from last week, the mark made by the fire were still noticeable: broken pieces from the big stained glass window that was shattered were still on the floor and the inscription on the outside wall: "Ulpana- War- Price Tag", had yet to be removed.
The people from the village who are happy for any solidarity visit, told us of organizations that sent delegations, diplomatic representatives and media networks that came and still come, to listen and document what had happened there at the dead of night. They point towards the proximity of the village to the settlements and praise the little girl that because of whom the mosque didn't burn to the ground.
The whole time we were there, from the side, on the rail of the path leading to the mosque, sat the children of the village and watched.
For them especially these solidarity visits by Jewish women and me are important. Because they are the future and perhaps there is still hope.
At Jaba checkpoint which is by the village and from where one can see the mosque, one of the soldiers that took part in the investigation that the army held on the day after the vandalizing took place, told us that it is most likely that the Pogromists came from the settlement Sha'ar Binyamin. He and his friends reconstructed the way that the outlaws came through and it is no more than a ten minute walk from the village.
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-11-2026Qalandiya. Ambulances wait in front of a closed checkpoint
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