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Qalandiya
Observers: Marcia L. and Ronny P.
5:00 There were not too many people and the line moved very quickly
But – to witness that what started as a knee jerk reaction after demos at Qalandiya – the closing of the parking lot for cars of people who have permits to work in Jerusalem – continues because the "buiolder" who put the cement blocks at the entrance there has not come back yet!
But – to witness that at 6:15 finally a couple with a sick child in father's arm could go through the humanitarian gate and that all the people behind the fence – the policeman and the policewoman and the soldiers watch these sick, feeble, old people with such indifference and expressionless faces is hard
But – to hear a man who has a 24 hour work permit but was turned away from a health clinic where he came after his accident for a check up with the argument that his work permit allows him to go in a beeline from checkpoint to his place of work and not to a health clinic!!!! and thus he is not allowed to enter unless he has another permit which allows him to do that.
The man only lost one day of work in securing this other permit but the pain and sense of humiliation that this man who has the same job for the last 30 years and is a warm and positive person made us feel so angry at the cruelty of the very thing we fight against- limitation of freedom of movement that all theses permits and lack of them represent.
So the fact that close to 2000 people in about 23 minutes on average crossed the checkpoint today was of little importance to us today
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-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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