Qalandiya - 4th Friday of Ramadan
I like people who dare in Palestine,
I like people who don’t give up in Palestine,
I like people who stand up in Palestine, whose proud spirit – even after years without a single day of freedom – gives off sparks of hope.
I like people who persist in remaining upright in Palestine even against all odds, people who do not recoil nor give up in nmkmview of force and lethal weapons pointed at them.
I like the man who ground his teeth, braced his jaws and stood up to the many armed men who jumped him, insulted him, pushed and hit him.
When they left, I approached him and expressed my appreciation.
This man is a hero that should be a model.
What else was there? Pushing, shoving, crowding, violence and arrests.
The armed men of the “security forces” (whose security??) yelled into their megaphones and pushed and shoved with their hands and rifle butts.
It was so crowded that fathers lifted their kids and carried them on their shoulders so they could breathe.
It was so crowded that one person’s face was stuck in the back of the person in front of him.
It was so crowded that an elderly man who was pushed and crushed collapsed and lost consciousness. Falling, he hurt his back and lay on the track in a pool of his own blood.
It was so crowded that old and young men and boys were crowded into the same tracks, for the gate that in previous weeks was declared “humanitarian” and meant for people over 55-years of age was locked.
Last but not least:
“Lady, I don’t write the orders. I only do as I’m told”, told me a Border Policewoman who chased away a disabled elderly man who arrived at the women’s side, and instructed him to go over to the men’s side, hundreds of meters away – when I said, look at him. Every step is torture for him. Why do you send him away?
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-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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