Qalandiya
A brief and calm morning
When we arrived at the Qalandiya Checkpoint at 5:30 a.m. all five checking stations were open and the lines were contained with the mostly darkened shed, as only four of the twelve lights were working. Each time the turnstiles at the end of each of the three “cages” opened, the soldier on duty wisely let through a large amount of people, so that there were long lines leading directly to the five checking stations but no tension in the area of the shed.
At 6:10 we began following a man at the end of one of the three lines until he passed through the turnstile into the checking area at 6:25 — 15 minutes on line, which is about one-third of the time it takes on a morning with heavy traffic through the checkpoint. But when we asked people on line about the previous morning, when we had no observers there, they said it had been very difficult. One man even showed pictures taken on his smartphone of the long lines going deep into the parking lot (similar to photos we ourselves have taken on previous shifts).
The Humanitarian Gate was opened from 6:10 to 6:35, when the Civil Administration soldier decided it was no longer needed due to the short lines leading into the cages.
At 6:45, when the cages had emptied, we also went through to a checking station, a move that took 10 minutes. Incidentally, for the first time we saw with our own eyes a soldier in the station engaged with his smartphone (not that we didn’t believe the Palestinians who have complained to us consistently about this over the years). When he finally lifted his eyes and saw who was standing before him, the look on his face betrayed his great annoyance at being caught in the act.
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 FleishmanJul-21-2026Qalandiya. Conversation in the shadow of the wall
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