Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Tue 20.11.12, Afternoon
Translating: Ruth Fleishman
The Day of Rage
A tide of fury and rage has been sweeping Qalandiya during the past weeks. This week, since the start of the war in Gaza the fury and the army's response had escalated- plenty of shooting, stone throwing, gas, detainees and even one "Grass Widow" had been implemented on the top of the corner building, from where the soldier snipe at the children and guide the other shooters. They are there from the morning until the night, soiling what isn't theirs, or as a friend said to me: "on the roof they do what is usually done in the toilet".
And an old wrinkled woman coming out of the alleys of the refugee camp approached me and told me of the children that had been arrested. I asked: "are they your children?"- "All of the children are mine" she said and asked why I, the Jew, hadn't told the soldiers that what they were doing was forbidden. A young man standing nearby replied:"she did, she yelled at them and they shoved her with force and yelled back at her to shut up"– "Then she should bring her friends from Israel, they should come here and see what they are doing to us", she said and walked away.
After walking a few meters she turned as though she recalled something she had to add, she came back and once again approached me and said: "tell all your friends to come here…", I promised that I would do so. Here I am, telling you.
The entrance to Ar-Ram was blocked and soldiers with drawn rifles were preventing the entrance and exit.
On the opposite side of Jaba checkpoint an officer was training three soldiers and a dog, using the car of a young Palestinian man who was chosen randomly. On the other side of the checkpoint the usual arbitrary routine involving the detaining Palestinians was taking place.
Armed, shielded and threatening, the soldiers stood at the entrance to the village Hizme among others, they stood near a military vehicle at the center of the square in front of the checkpoint leading to the exit from the occupied territories.
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-31-2026Qalandiya. Human remains or clothing remains
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