Qalandiya
Qalandiya
It’s been years since I’ve heard the threat that if I don’t leave the Palestinians will be punished. But that’s what Police Officer Grushko said, that as long as I’m “here” they won’t conduct work, and emphasized that no patients will be transferred between ambulances, no ambulance will go through, he said.
“Here” isn’t next to Police Officer Grushko or the security personnel or the soldiers.
“Here” is on the sidewalk, beyond the fence dividing the “here” where I’m standing from the “there” where they’re standing. “Here” is alongside the Palestinian buses, a public space, and the ambulances come “here” to transfer their patients and the injured back-to-back.
But Police Officer Grushko’s threat couldn’t be tested because during almost half an hour that I stood “here,” no ambulance arrived “here.”
A large group of male and female soldiers crowded together behind the fences inside the checkpoint.
“They’re preparing for Ramadan,” said the Palestinians.
Maybe that’s what they were doing in there, and maybe not.
Providing food for the children is very difficult,
an acquaintance said to me as we gazed at an improvised clothing shop a man had opened on the parking lot fence.
Very difficult.
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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