Qalandiya
A normal morning at Qalandiya.
We arrived at approximately 05:15. The vehicle checkpoint isn’t crowded yet. Even though Ramadan ended a while ago, the parking lot is still blocked this week – we don’t know why. As a result, some people get out of vehicles on the other side of the plaza and run across, risking the traffic on the road. Others get out of the minibuses that stop at the entrance to the blocked parking lot and interfere with traffic on the road. Along the road cars are parked half on the sidewalk, interfering with traffic. We drove a littler farther and parked in the pay-parking lot behind the fruit and vegetable stand. One of the workers tries to tell us they’re increasing the price of parking because they want to pave the area. His friend says that NIS 15 is enough, as usual. He knows we don’t stay long. We walked to the checkpoint, from the side.
The lines hadn’t reached the parking lot as we approached the checkpoint, but had already filled the shed and the exit area. Three long, orderly lines of people waited. Only three booths were open when we arrived. A new sign hung on the humanitarian gate – in Hebrew, Arabic and English – announcing it’s open from 06:00 to 09:00; women, children and infants, the elderly, people with medical conditions and teachers and pupils are allowed through. We know from experience it often opens after 6, and when the regular lines become shorter people are told to join them.
People are engaged in morning prayer next to the closed inspection booths and in the shed near the benches. There are flattened cartons on one of the benches. A person wanting to pray spreads a carton on the ground and replaces it when he’s done. Meanwhile, the lines have extended into the empty parking lot. At 05:25 two policewomen arrived, a sign that soon more inspection booths will open. And, in fact, a few minutes later all five booths were open and more people were able to go through.
Slightly before 6 a couple arrived with a pair of little, cute twins. They’re all dressed festively, apparently on their way to a celebration. We explained that the humanitarian crossing opens at 6 or a little later. They wait; others join them. The security guard arrives at 6 but the DCL soldier hasn’t yet arrived. Minutes pass, the children grow restless. The guard, in response to our question, says the soldier’s on his way. The gate finally opens and they go through. The regular lines have also become shorter.
By 06:20 they’ve left the revolving gates open, and even when they closed them not many people were waiting in the cages. We left. Ayman, from the coffee stand, tells us at the exit that he found a job at a wedding hall in Ra’anana. His employee will run the coffee stand.
We returned via A-Ram and Hizme this time also and entered Jerusalem through Pisgat Ze’ev. There was a brief traffic jam but the crossing itself was smooth; traffic was sparse after the checkpoint and we reached the city center quickly.
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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