Qalandiya
“The reason the territories aren’t closed during the holdiay is because of money. Because if they let us (the Palestinians) go through, they (Israelis) make a lot more money. If each person working buys only one bottle of water that’s already a lot of money,” said Abu-Ahmad.
Abu-Ahmad’s correct, it’s all money, but not the price of a bottle of water, which the Palestinians buy for one shekel from Abu-Suleiman’s cart at the checkpoint entrance.
The big money is why there’s no closure. It’s the exploitation and the low pay and the lack of benefits and poor conditions of employment for Palestinians working in Israeli enterprises in the Atarot industrial zone and the other industrial zones which is why the territories aren’t closed.
The kidnapped person who turned out not to have been kidnapped and the army’s deeds in Halhul were on everyone’s lips today.
“Now he’s in the Moskovia [the jail in Jerusalem’s Russian Compound]. He’ll be imprisoned for fifteen years,” one youth is certain, analyzing the incident on the basis of criteria Palestinians are familiar with.
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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