Qalandiya
Why must a baby born six days ago with a serious heart defect who is on a respirator, travelling to Tel Hashomer hospital where they may be able to save his life, and who weighs only two kilograms and is accompanied only by his grandmother, because his mother hasn’t yet recovered from the birth and is still hospitalized in Nablus, be detained at the checkpoint, exposed even for a few minutes to Qalandiya’s cold, be disconnected from the oxygen pump that breathes for him and be connected to a different pump and be transferred from one ICU incubator to another?
Because it’s the law.
Why must a woman from Gaza who’s suffering from a blockage in her liver and may develop jaundice pass through the Qalandiya checkpoint and wait for an ambulance to arrive from the West Bank and for everyone, the woman and her papers and her files and the medical staff to be inspected, and the stretcher from Nablus to open and for the patient to be laid on it and be transferred to a different ambulance?
Because it’s the law.
And why can’t a ten year old boy – maybe he’s eleven – go through the checkpoint with his mother who didn’t have his birth certificate in her handbag?
Because it’s the law.
Well, if that’s the law –
FUCK THIS LAW!
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 FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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