Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 27.10.13, Afternoon
קלנדיה וג'בע,
Qalandiya and Jaba, Sunday 27.10.13, PM
Observers: Roni Hammermann and Tamar Fleishman
Qalandiya:
"They are looking for the man", said a man who just got out of a police trap, not before he received from them a ticket for 250 Shekels after driving on a traffic island.
Only those who drive in the direction of the checkpoint and get trapped inside the bottle's neck where four roads coming from different directions become two lanes that merge with two additional lanes, meaning they become four, and the road becomes one which twists around the roundabout, and it is the rush hour of the end of the working day, know that it is inevitable that at least two wheels will mount the edge of the traffic island so as to merge with this slow progressing madness.
But mounting the traffic island is to mount a separator and mounting a separator is a violation of traffic laws- the policewomen entrapping the drives and hunting down their prey by the wall gave us this new information.
And then it was Unis's turn- a big man with a big laugh, life wisdom, optimism and a love for human beings that can't be understood.
And as part of the assembly line his papers were taken from him and his information was entered into the computer and the policewoman hurried back with her reply: "your license has been revoked" but Unis's license has not been revoked, and a second insertion of his details verified what he said: oh, it wasn't, but is was in the past… " and she didn't get confused and she didn't apologize, she just wrote a traffic report saying: "mounted a separator" and added that she was actually doing Unis a favor, because she could write that he drove over a white line
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Unis told us he lived at Beit Hanina and that he was even teaching his children that a human being is a human being "no matter whether Jewish or Arab", that is because the municipality of Jerusalem didn't take care of the neighborhoods in the east so he would take them to one of the playgrounds at the French Hill, and each time he arrived at one of the playgrounds the police would arrive immediately, within less than ten minutes, and they would ask him, and only him, for his ID.
And to Unis's dismay and in spite his good intentions, the kids are scared of going to those playgrounds where "their father is the only one inspected".
At Jaba checkpoint four male soldiers, one female soldier and a dog were performing the "dog procedure". The last person to be released took his head out of the window and said: "you see how they treat us?"
And the female soldier, who panicked once she noticed the camera pointing at her and the dog, got the rest of the soldiers in a frenzy. They crossed the road (towards us) in a hurry and yelled and threatened and hide that which the female soldiers calmed that we could take a photo of, and they called for the officer who arrived within minutes and demanded the camera so he could see and delete the picture of the female solider and the dog, but it wasn't handed to him, and he informed us that we were detained until we either delete the pictures or the police arrives. I told him that even though "the pictures didn't come out so good, they were mine and he didn't have the right to touch my property.
And it was dark and cold, and we were detained by the side of the road for (a little over) forty minutes, until the policemen arrived. They seemed confused and didn’t really understand why they were sent there, because they knew as well as we did and as we told the officer, that he had no case. Not for preventing the picture from being taken, not for demanding that we delete the pictures, not for detaining us and not for inconveniencing the police.
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Until next time.
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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