Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Wed 6.8.08, Afternoon
For those who are for the first time observing the Bir Naballah-Rafat checkpoint, it is striking to see that although the checking takes place only for those going into the enclave of Bir Naballah, a small town
surrounded by the Wall and by Road 443, the other side of the road, the one going out of Bir Naballah, has been closed with barriers and rocks so thatcars have to go down from the road into the dirt at the side, causing damageto their cars because of the uneven height of both surfaces. The soldiersjustify this by saying that in case someone shoots at them, the culprit willnot be able to get away fast. This logic is quite absurd because if someonewanted to shoot they could do so AFTER crossing the stone barrier. In any case, the soldiers approach us and do not know who we are. They havebeen until now at the border with Lebanon and are relieved to be now here,they say, because "here we see people and are not in danger of beingkidnapped". One of us asks whether there is a 'separation policy' (bidul)today but they do not know what the word means. Palestinians driving through shout to us: "Welcome". In Qalandya we havemet Bir Naballah residents who have asked us to come to see this checkpoint.We distinctly remember that we were told by the Israeli authorities thatthere would be no checkpoint here because this is a road of "Fabric of Life"(Mirkam Haim) that exclusively connects Bir Naballah with Ramallah and hasno borders with any Israeli settlement. However, Palestinians going homeafter a days work are forced to stop, sometimes to wait for long time,contrary to what the Israeli authorities declared. We see 2 buses full of people clapping and singing. One is full of womengoing to a wedding and the second is taking the men. They are allowed to gowithout major harassment. Around 4:40 a traffic jam begins to form and we count more than 30 carswaiting in line. When we approach the soldierdoing the checking and askwhy it is taking so long, he responds that also he doesn't want to be here.
We continue on our way to Qalandya and reach it by 5:09. The soldier at thebooth controlling the passage through the turnstiles into the checking laneskeeps them closed so that long lines are formed inside the cages. Peoplestart to get nervous since there are very few people waiting in line at thechecking lanes and they could have been checked already if he would open theturnstiles. One of us takes a photo of the "Welcome to Atarot" electronicannouncement placed at the top of the cages and then the soldier comes outof the booth and shouts threateningly at us: "You have 2 seconds to get outof here (he in fact said 'to fly from here'). After he goes into the boothand makes a call, he just sporadically shouts: "Walla, get out of here".One of our watchers, who is more delicate than most and is still not used tothis, is very offended by the language used by a young soldier talking to"women with white hair".
Men who are sitting at the 'waiting hall' at the northern end of Qalandyacheckpoint tell us that they are internal migrant workers, coming fromNablus and other northern cities to work in Atarot and other places inIsrael, and they live in crowded rooms in Ramallah and go back to theirfamilies on weekends. After work, they meet in this waiting hall and sit onthe metal benches and smoke and talk about their day, before going back totheir little rooms.
At 17:44 a Palestinian-plated ambulance arrives at the checkpoint and waitsfor about 10 minutes for theIsraeli-plated ambulance to come from thesouthern side in order to transport a patient back-to-back from oneambulance to the other. This is a lucky patient who has a permit to go to ahospital in Jerusalem or through Jerusalem.
On our way back to Jerusalem through Jabba checkpoint we see a child with abig plastic bag collecting tin cans from the garbage. Children selectingproducts from the garbage, a very common sight in very poor underdevelopedcountries, is becoming a usual feature in Palestine.
Jaba' (Lil)
See all reports for this place-
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)
-
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
See all reports for this place-
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 FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
-