Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 27.11.11, Afternoon
Translation: Ruth Fleishman
The victim is a Palestinian. His time and pain can't be assessed nor are they of any value.
Qalandiya
The lad had been hassled for an hour and a half, suffering from excruciating pain, laying on a stretcher in the ambulance that took him from Nablus to Mukased hospital in East Jerusalem, where a surgery was scheduled for him. He was diagnosed with a fracture to the pelvis and the pain ran from there up to his spine
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Despite the fact that the Red Crescent had prepared all the necessary permits in advance, the soldiers at the checkpoint wouldn't allow the ambulance driver to cross to the other side, and kept ordering him over and over again, to head back.
After numerous calls to all the hot lines, it turned out that: oops… coordination had been made, there really was no reason for the hold up and the torture. But after all, the victim is a Palestinian. His time and pain can't be assessed nor are they of any value. No one took responsibility and no one apologized, they just thoroughly inspected the documentations, scavenged through his and his mother's personal belongings in public and wrote down the license plate number of the ambulance and information of the driver from Jerusalem, who claimed that writing down the driver information is a procedure performed only in Qalandiya checkpoint.
Jaba
To make sure that the soldiers won't be able to force us to retrieve our steps, we parked our vehicle before arriving at the checkpoint- on the road from Qalandiya, where they believe we aren't allow to be.
It was the flash of the camera and not our presence, that alarmed the checkpoint commander, S, who arrived escorted by two of his soldiers and ordered: "no pictures!", he also had a reason: "no one can find out how the checkpoint works, that there are two soldiers in the front and two in the back". He also had something to say about our being there: "you are risking your lives!", once we removed all responsibility for our safety from him, he continued to say: "this is my checkpoint, I'm the commander here and I decide who is going to stay here and who isn't and you are putting the soldiers at risk".
When referring to the role of the checkpoint he explained that it's too dangerous for Jews to arrive at Qalandiya and the solider beside him added: "they would have stoned you had you dared to drive up to Qalandiya… from here on end it's A territories, Jews aren't allowed there". We suggested that they take a look at some maps from time to time, but it wasn't so easy to persuade them with the facts, because: "That’s what our highest commanders told us and they know the law!"
When we asked how the checkpoint functions in during the morning hours, S told us that each day, early in the morning, the police detains all vehicles arriving from Ramallah/ Qalandiya and: "inspect them one by one. They are probably looking for someone who is supposed to arrive from Ramallah". We asked about the length of the lines that are creating due to this procedure and he replied: "I prefer traffic jams to the possibility that a terrorist might cross over".
In attempt to end our conversation S complained: "You aren't listening to me!…", actually we were listening. But we don't believe that to listen means to obey.
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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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