Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 30.6.13, Afternoon
Translation: Ruth Fleishman
Qalandiya checkpoint:
Two ambulances were already parked side by side in preparation for a transfer of a baby of six months to Mukassad hospital. According to the medical crew the co-ordinations had been made.
The soldier thought otherwise and demanded that the Palestinian ambulance turn back. Why? Hold on to your seat! The baby didn't have an ID. His mother who was carrying him did have one, but the baby didn't.
Throughout the years we had witnessed many absurd incidents during the "back-to back procedure", but such an occurrence we had yet to see.
"He is in critical condition"' said a person from the medical crew and I felt the rage I harbored inside was about to burst from every possible pore, I yelled at the commander: "do you know this baby might die?"- "do you know there are no co-ordinations?!" he screamed back at me. "The baby might die" I shouted again, and he kept on "you know there are no co-ordinations?"
What is important in that place is not human life but order, and order must be preserved and the victim is always to blame for the lack of order. In this case, a baby of six months.
And the ambulance with the baby in it had already returned to the other side of the checkpoint, preformed a U-turn and waited. The ambulance from Jerusalem waited in the same spot.
A group of generals was touring the checkpoint when it passed by the ambulance and as it was probably not one of the destinations of the tour, none of them noticed there was a distressing event before them. The exception was one deputy that escorted them, who like the rest of them didn't turn his eyes to see, but only asked, as they always do with no intentions: "Is everything alright?" a question that made it possible to respond with an elaborated answer about the baby, his condition and the detainment. And the deputy walked up to the Palestinian ambulance and called whoever it was that he called , and suddenly the baby's ID was no longer required and all the co-ordinations were valid and the ambulance retuned and parked by the one that arrived from Jerusalem and the baby was transferred. The paramedic was ordered to open the mother's bag and strangers' eyes and armed hands felt it to make sure it didn't contain any threats to the state, and order had been preserved as well as the security to the state, and the baby was sent off to Mukassad hospital.
And on the way back, a man and his son were carrying big and heavy boxes who were too large to be taken through the four turnstiles, that have the shortest metal bars in the whole territory ruled by the Israeli state (yes, I do measure them). 
They were forced to drag, push, pull and use the assistance of the passersby to cross to the other side, the Palestinian side, or as the sign says: "Judea and Samaria".
Jaba checkpoint: The light was on, the soldiers were in the tower, the 
posts were empty and a new flag was hanging from the middle of the pole.
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-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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