Qalandiya
04:45 – 08:15: The Parking lot is closed and as a result even in this early hour of the morning, the traffic in the whole area is absolutely chaotic. One has to park at a considerable distance, and the pedestrians squeeze their way through the moving cars – a real danger. The queue is long and reaches the end of the parking lot. All along the shift 4 checking posts were open. In the aquarium there is on soldier playing different games on the computer. His eyes are fixed on the ninjas which win or lose on the screen, and the people standing in the queue are forced to whistle or scream in order that the turnstiles be opened. A policeman appeared.
she screamed shrilly. The man answered her – and the policeman sent him back to waste another hour at least in the queue. In the meantime riots began at the entrance to the "cages", people leaped one on the other, shoved and pushed – and there were screams that reached the sky. The authorities and surely many others will explain this by "they are animals" and I say that when people are degraded and abused, day after day, when one is anxious to decompose a society, and turn each person against the other, this is what happens. Always when I am an observer at the Checkpoints I am ashamed, as after all this is done, indirectly, in my name too, me being a citizen of this state – but today I wanted to hide myself in the ground!
At 06:00 the DCO officer arrived. There was already a considerable queue at the "humanitarian" queue. What is humanitarian there I have not yet grasped, in spite of 15 years at the checkpoints, but perhaps I will still understand. He thoroughly checked who is entitled and who isn't to "enjoy" passing at the "humanitarian" gate and opened it. Many people did not pass – and when I asked why I heard – what was already pointed out in the past – that now during the Ramadan many authorisations were given and those are valid only from eight o'clock on, while the people arrive earlier and this causes havoc. And I, in my simplemindedness assumed that whoever knows how to activate planes and missiles and tanks and other instruments of mass destruction of all kinds and colours, would also know how to plan and activate the checkpoints so that the shameful scenes I witnessed today wouldn't happen. There are solutions – even simple ones – what is needed is a bit of resourcefulness and much goodwill. These are all those people who were "a security risk" – even a "high security risk" and now? On Friday there are OK and on Sunday they were stung by the "risk fly"? Until I left sheepish and frustrated at 08:15 the queue still went on and on and on – a long, winding snake.
I cried a bit, I almost got killed on the road and returned to my comfortable life and my sweet granddaughter. Behind me I left a different world – of "the most moral and enlightened" humiliation, arbitrariness and occupation.
The toilets were in use – only the ones for men, those intended for women are absolutely impossible. The stench that comes from there soars high into heaven. The dirt, as always, is disgusting.
Qalandiya at its best!
At a certain stage a policewoman appeared and tried to "educate" me. There was an exchange of words, but I decided to forsake the last word. A woman who talks and behaves as she does, doesn't deserve to be a policewoman. Another point of discredit for the Israeli Police. At second thought, perhaps such a type "is adequate" for the Palestinians, who, after all "are not considered as human beings" – who knows!
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 FleishmanApr-27-2025Qalandiya: A beggar woman
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