Qalandiya
All the three checking posts were open when we arrived at 5:00 but nevertheless there were already queues. Until 5:20 the queues had already reached the parking lot, and this was the situation until 6:45 approximately, when they began to shorten. At 6:02 we began following with our eyes the man with the red jacket who was standing at the end of one of the queues. It took him until 6:30 (28 minutes) to pass on to the second turnstile, at the entrance to the checking post. We were under the impression that this morning more people were arriving than on Tuesdays during the preceding weeks, but this is just an impression.
The DCO soldier arrived at 6:00, immediately opened the humanitarian gate and opened it again each time a crowd accumulated near it, until 7:10.
There was only one delay in the opening of the gate as the soldier weas inside the aquarium when there was a "smartphone attack" which drew the attention of all the room's attendants at that moment (soldiers and policemen alike). As all of them were immersed in their mobile phone screens, they didn't pay attention to what was going on around them. And as we were unable to communicate with them inside, we called the humanitarian line in an attempt to create a roundabout connection with them, especially as among those waiting to enter by the humanitarian gate there was a very tiny baby whose parents were very nervous. And then, just as we began talking with the humanitarian line, the DCO soldier came out and opened the gate for all.
During the years we heard innumerable complaints from the persons passing through the checking process about soldiers "playing with smartphones" instead of attending to them, and we also brought this painful subject up with the army. If we could have photographed the scene in the aquarium we would have had a classic image of this problem.
We left at 7:10 when there were no more people in the enclosures.
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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