Qalandiya - 2nd Friday of Ramadan
Everything that was true last week applied this week as well.
The same rules, the same façade, strict adherence to every instruction, same ruthless domination, same use of laundered Orwellian lingo.
The big picture varies only in the small, personal, human details.
One woman deserves to serve as a model:
In the crowd that waited and waited, whom decades of occupation have made disciplined and subjugated, one woman stood out, dressed in white, wearing thongs, a black backpack on her back and a tight chin that testified to her determination.
The woman in white who had trouble walking was led in a Red Crescent wheelchair to the inspection post. There, said the computer, she was found unfit to get to prayer at Al Aqsa, and was supposed to leave.
Why? Because someone from her extended family is marked on the lists as supporting terrorism, so the ruling logic turns the entire human circle around him into blacklisted individuals, prevented from crossing into Jerusalem.
The woman got off the wheelchair, stood upright facing the ones blocking her way, and refused to turn back.
An armed gang came towards her and pushed her with their bodies.
When her strength gave out, she sat down with her back to the wall. The soldiers stood around her, tried to convince her, but the woman in white would not look at them, just sat there.
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I looked at her and thought about Rosa Parks, who in a similar situation at a different time stood alone facing the apparatus.
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There, like here, a human body may be broken, but not the human spirit.
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Then the plot thickened, as we were all notified to evacuate the place, with soldiers and Border Policemen pushing us back.
There’s an event, one of the officers said. There’s a suspicious object, said another. No one crosses here now.
The crossing was closed.
We crowded to the road leading to Ramallah. Everyone who was supposed to cross through this opening which is originally an opening for woman – we were all sent to the opening meant for the men. Suddenly procedures became lenient. No more gender separation – which for years I have not been able to understand, especially on Ramadan Fridays. So, I stayed put.
They’re lying, said a short man on his way to Jerusalem to purchase medication for his epilepsy. They’re always lying. No object, no suspicion, they just want to make our lives even more difficult. That’s our life.
I don’t know about a suspect object. After an hour during which nothing was checked and the crossing remained unopened, I left.
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 FleishmanApr-26-2026Qalandiya. Things you see on the way
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