Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 4.11.12, Afternoon
Translating: Ruth Fleishman
For over an hour a woman dying of cancer waited in an ambulance from the occupied territories that had brought her from a hospital in Ramallah on her way back home to Gaza.
Each time the driver tried driving through the gates of the checkpoint a shout was heard: "ambulance- back up!". At the inside parking lot, there alone patients are moved from one side to the other, Sami was waiting to transfer her to the Israeli ambulance and drive her to Erez checkpoint. Sami, who is the manager of the ambulance company, a member of a rescue organization and an owner of a police officer's ID, had been driving patients from the West Bank for eight years and knows a thing or two about the routine and regulations, and said: "If no co-ordinations had been made then we won't be heading off. What are they thinking that this woman is dangerous? 
What do they want from her?", he was referring to the patient who didn't have long to live.
After 50 minutes during which Sami and his team waited and each phone call he made to one of the hot lines was replied with:" there are problems with the co-ordinations… we are working on it…" and "five more minutes…", and he, being an Israeli has the right to be angry and protest, threatened that he would leave, until suddenly, with in a minute there were no more problems and the soldiers open the gate before the ambulance transferring the woman.
Then, after he papers had been examined and after the patient had been taken out of the ambulance and removed from one stretcher to the other, the soldiers ordered the Palestinian driver to open her bag and reveal her belongings before them. Only once they made sure that everything was fine she was sent off on her way. 
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Out of the checkpoint complex a group of officer with security, toured the blockages separating the lanes on the north road and talked about possible changes.
The cab drivers and the Palestinian traffic guides, who suffer daily from the problems occurring because of the narrow lanes and the blockages on the roads, hurried towards them wanting to share their opinions with them which are based on experience and make requests, but they receiveda cold shoulder and were ignored.
Innovations at Jaba checkpoint:
1- A dress filled with holes was place on the pillbox at the side of the road, this gave the phallic towering symbol the visage of drag queen about to burst in dance.
2- Those arriving at the checkpoint are greeted with zig-zaging plastic blockages (New-Jerseys) that forces them into an acrobatic driving style.
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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