Qalandiya
We parked before the checkpoint and went through on foot. At the entrance in the direction of Qalandiya there was a large group of people in the middle of their morning prayers. We waited for them to finish and went in.
We were happy to see that, at the hour of 5:15, all 5 staitons were already operating. There were moderate and well-organized lines. For the few women who had arrived it was possible to join in the lines at the entrance to the enclosures. As time passed, the lines got longer, since so many people had arrived, but the organization was maintained. Here and there were individuals or small groups of people praying. Next to the bagel seller there was a prayer rug resting on the back of a bench which someone would take and use every once in a while and then return it.
At 5:40, a policeman and policewoman showed up. At about 6, people started gathering next to the Humanitarian Gate. Still, most of the women chose to join in the regular line at the entrance to the enclosures.
At about 6:10, the officer arrived and opened the Humanitarian Gate. A guard and policeman accompanied him. The policeman checked the permits of the men, to verify if they were qualified to pass through the Humanitarian Gate. He turns back quite a few. Nevertheless, people try, because the regular lines are very long. Some of those who had been refused turn to us, but we explained that we couldn't help with this. Here and there were people who thanked us for coming to observe and report about what was going on. We also met someone whose permit had been confiscated by a policeman last week. He said that, in the end the permit had been given back and now everything was all right. The long lines move slowly. Another policewoman arrives (the blond) and some guards. At the Humanitarian Gate, a lot of women go through, students and other eligible people.
At 7:20 it seemed as though the lines were finally shortened and then we also went through the Humanitarian Gate and approached station #5. The progress there was extremely slow. Altogether it took us half an hour to go through, even though there was no obvious reason for the delay. Meanwhile, we talked with an elegant woman who works at a foreign consulate in Sheikh Jarah. She also complained about the progress being so slow and that she is often late to work.
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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