Qalandiya
Third Day of Ramadan
05:00 – When we arrived, we discovered that the parking lot was blocked. Why? Certainly not to please the Palestinians and to help them enjoy the holiday! The line was already long but all five inspection windows were open and the soldier in the aquarium opened the pens at a reasonable rate.
05:40 – Two women came to the Humanitarian Gate. I told them it didn’t open until six and I suggested that they go through the pens with the workers instead. They didn’t want to. At 06:15, when the Humanitarian Gate still was not open, the women left. For them, a wasted morning. A family arrived: parents and 3 children. It was clear that the mother and children wanted to pass the checkpoint for a family visit because they had gifts in their hands. It was clear that the father came to make certain that his wife and children passed the checkpoint quietly. He didn’t join in the visit. He hugged and kissed his wife and then hugged and kissed each one of his children, a little girl of about 3 or 4, a boy around 7 and the oldest boy, around 12. Because the Humanitarian Gate wasn’t open, the family had to enter the line of workers. The daughter was afraid and asked the mother to pick her up. The two boys were also not happy about entering the pen. I thought to myself: “Here is another generation that suffers the humiliation of the Occupation.” There were men who returned from the inspection gates because they did not have the correct permits. One worker stopped us after he recognized Ronny and asked for help. He was told he was blacklisted but the soldiers would not tell him why. Ronny gave him Sylvia’s phone number and the man was relieved just to know there was someone to turn to. Another incident: Two men, a man and his adult son, received permits to tour during the holiday of Ramadan, and arrived at the checkpoint to begin their trip early in the morning. After they presented their permits at the inspection window, the soldier at the window didn’t give them permission to pass through. Why? They had arrived at around 06:30 but the permit said they could only go through at 08:00. The two returned to the benches to wait an hour-and-a half to begin their day of fun. Today was another day that we realized that Israel controls every aspect of the Palestinians’ lives and cause only hate and bitterness.
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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