Qalandiya, יום ד’ 7.10.09, אחה”צ
Natanya translating
A weird scene. Children, stones. soldiers, shooting, rubber bullets, tear case, singing and a guitar, innocent passers-by with eyes streaming on their way to the checkpoint and home, traffic jams, overcrowding. An audience watching and we standing with them and it seems that no one gets very excited about all this.
15.55 A terrific traffic name to the south. The traffic is directed to A-Ram where the gate is open. The passage of cars to Ramallah is closed.
16.03 The way to Ramallah is opened and the traffic jam opens up.
There is a rumour that there is confusion as children are throwing stones.
In the parking lot for the taxis there are many people and no taxis.
In the pedestrian passage 4 booths are closed. Practically since they have been put up.
16.10 The shed and the sleeves are practically empty. In the meantime it turns out that for the past hour and a half the children have been throwing stones and the soldiers shooting. It is not clear if the children threw stones because the checkpoint was closed or the opposite. Or maybe this is the continuation of the demonstrations on the Temple Mount.
16.20 A young tourist plays his guitar in the shed. The young Palestinians sing enthusiastically with him. And really close by at the northern circle the border police some of them in gas masks fire and bring more and more gray weapons with ammunition. And next to all this the cars to the north to on their way and a few trucks go southwards.
16.30 A rain of gas. Pedestrians especially women and children have tears streaming down, their noses blocked and they run from the circle to the northern checkpoint. We had to go through a real cloud of gas on our way home. Some of the border police are also coughing, spitting and their eyes are also streaming. A soldier wearing a mask shouts in anger at us. "A closed army area, everyone is to go." The people go back a way and then come to watch at the side of the northern checkpoint. They explain to us that a lot of noise is because of the rubber bullets and the softer noise is that of the gas. And there is also rubber wrapped with gas and if you touch it you get burnt. In the meantime the soldiers are going in the direction of Ramallah.
15.35 The southern checkpoint for cars is closed completely. In the distance we hear a siren.
16.45 Pedestrians with streaming eyes come in groups to the checkpoint. Shooting, cars streaming to the north.
16.55 Another shower.
16.58 From the sentry comes the announcement that the passage is closed and everyone should go back.
17.03 A shot. And 17.05 shots at short range.
17.07 Shots. The passage of cars leaving Ramallah is difficult and passes the low wall. The vans pick up their passengers at irregular places, The soldiers bring more and more grey tins.
17.10 The muezzin calls to prayer . His text does not get confused because of the commotion underneath.
17.15 Shots directly into the crowded road leading to Ramallah.
Many times today we have been told that there will be no peace and quiet here. The Koran says, "So long as the sun rises and sets there will be no peace in this place," Again a siren is heard from the area of fighting,
17.25 The firing continues.
We go through the sleeves quickly. The parking lot is empty. The drivers wait for passengers at a distance. They ask us about what has been happening on the other side of the checkpoint.
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)
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