Qalandiya
05:00 The cold was penetrating. You could feel it in every part of your body. There was already a long line that stretched from the parking lot to the entrance of the carousels. The soldier inside the aquarium opened only one of the carousels although all three of the carousels were filled with people, a situation that made the workers in carousels 2 and 3 impatient and the atmosphere tense. Ronny asked the soldier to open all three of the carousels and let fewer people through each time. From a psychological standpoint, the workers would feel they were making progress toward the inspection gates. To her credit, the soldier listened to Ronny and opened all three of the carousels.
We also noticed that only three of the inspection gates were open. The fourth gate was opened only after Ronny again spoke with the soldier and told her how long the line was outside. In the meantime, the line continued to grow longer until between 05:30 and 06:30, the line stretched almost to the round-about outside the parking lot. We felt the workers’ tension and the pressure that they began to express. Ronny called the Humanitarian Line of the Civil Authority to complain that only four of the five inspection gates were opened and immediately the person on the line transferred the call to police headquarters. The policeman who answered said they were experimenting with opening only four gates instead of five at Qalandiya. Ronny told him that closing even one inspection gate is intolerable because of the number of people who cross the checkpoint every day. Within a short time, the fifth gate was opened.
06:00 The Humanitarian Gate was opened and everyone who arrived went through within a few minutes, except for one unpleasant instance. An older gentleman approached the Humanitarian Gate and asked to pass through even though he did not have a permit to do so. He had recently gone through a serious operation and he even showed the soldier at the gate the long scar on his stomach which was obviously new. The man said that he was afraid to go through the carousels because of the pushing and shoving. The soldier refused to let the man through the Humanitarian Gate and when we asked why, the soldier answered: “I’m not a doctor. How do I know what happened to him?” (Welcome to the Humanitarian Gate.)
Today, the policeman, M., who is a bully, was on duty. He doesn’t speak with people, he barks. We have written about this policeman several times: he represents the ugly face of the occupation. We are embarrassed that he is responsible for the lives of thousands of people; he is incapable of relating in a human way to these thousands who pass through Qalandiya.
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 FleishmanMay-31-2026Qalandiya. Human remains or clothing remains
-