Qalandiya
It was a quiet morning.
We arrived at 5:00, all the check posts were open and there were no lines. All the turnstiles were working. The cake vendor "complained" that for some time now business had been bad since everything was working smoothly. The soldier announcing that all the check posts were open didn't shout. We were happy to hear him call out in a friendly voice. We thank him for that.
5:30 A policeman arrived and entered the aquarium.
5:45 Suddenly all the lights in the covered area went out. It was dark. We made signs to the soldier in the aquarium and he called to find out what was happening. Later, he came out to tell us that there was a problem with the lights and that it was being taken care of. It was still dark when we left.
6:00 P. from the DCO arrived, but since there were no lines at the check posts and no people had gathered at the humanitarian gate he didn't open it. Instead, he and a female soldier from the aquarium went to stand at check post 5 to question people at random, or not at random? We had no way of knowing.
6:15 Lines had been formed, so some women had gathered at the humanitarian gate. When P. came to open it they passed through.
6:30 Two photographers fro Ramallah arrived. From what we could understand they were making a documentary movie about the lives of the pupils who cross at the checkpoints on their way to school. They asked to interview us. We were polite but said no.
6:45 We said bye and left. We walked through the check point. The passage was quick.
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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