Qalandiya
When a critically-ill heart patient from Bir Zeit is brought to St. Joseph Hospital in Jerusalem the shortest or fastest route doesn’t go through the Qalandiya checkpoint.
But according to the rules of the occupation, via Qalandiya is the only way the woman can reach the hospital to which she’s being rushed, perhaps conscious, perhaps not – that is, if she survives the long wait at the checkpoint entrance because of a false claim of “no advance coordination” and the rough handling when she’s transferred from one stretcher to another and from one ambulance to another.
Recently, as I waited with medical staff meeting ambulances, they said: “We’re trying to save lives and they (the soldiers) are busy shortening them.” And reported that ambulance inspection at Tarqumiyya sometimes includes a dog going inside, which endangers patients because dogs carry many germs.
When I went through the checkpoint to the Jerusalem side the soldiers couldn’t understand what I was doing there, where I came from, where I was going.
And I, who know I have a legal right to be here, have no interest in explaining or justifying anything, simply show them an identifying document.
“Go through the red door,” the soldier ordered. “We have to find out.”
I entered. I found myself penned in a sort of concrete room one meter square, or perhaps a few centimeters larger, one of whose walls, facing the soldiers’ emplacement, is made of bulletproof glass, like the glass behind which the prime minister stood a few hours later when he spoke in the square, only smaller and filthier.
I passed the time looking through the window at the soldier’s computer screen.
Photos and details of individuals appeared on the screen one after the other. A man, a man, a woman, a large photo and lines of text. And then it was a young woman’s turn and below her picture appeared a line of bright red text. “Blacklisted,” said the soldier, “go back.” And it didn’t help when the woman said she wasn’t and that her permit is new. “Back.”
I remained trapped a few minutes more until a policeman entered the soldiers’ emplacement, looked through the armored glass and said, “She, she can go to hell!”
I went. But elsewhere.
Three soldiers manned the roadblock on Highway 65, about 300 meters before the Adam settlement, stopping and inspecting Palestinian vehicles. I wasn’t able to find out what they were checking. I stood across the road and watched a group of Border Police soldiers come down to me from a hill near the guard tower, and an officer, Yusuf Nasser al-Din, told me to leave because: this place is dangerous; we have information, some of it public, some of it confidential…
He neither wanted nor was able to hear what I had to say, he told me he’s authorized to not listen, and added that a discussion between us could only take place in court after the patrol car he summons will take me to jail.
Yusuf Nasser al-Din moved back a few steps, telephoned, said something, listened and then called his colleagues, they all got into a vehicle and drove off.
A few minutes later I also drove off and only three soldiers remained on the road who continued to stop Palestinian vehicles and harass the drivers.
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-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
-
