Qalandiya
A very slow morning at Qalandiya.
05.20. When we arrived there were three lines extending all the way to the end of the car park. Yet there were few people at the five open checking stations. We noticed that the soldier was not opening all three turnstiles. Whether as a result of our phonecall or coincidentally, he soon began opening all three, and at reasonable intervals. Yet the lines didn’t seem to get any shorter. At one stage they looked about to collapse as people got frustrated, but miraculously didn’t.
We were about to phone about the humanitarian gate as quite a number of people were waiting there, when towards 6.15 two D.C.O. officers arrived. They seemed to relate politely to the people, but were very strict. One young couple who came with an obviously ill child was obliged to wait till 8 o’clock – the wife had a visa but the husband had no permit.
There were quite a few older folk – some on their way to prayers in Al Aksa – waiting to enter at 8 o’clock.
The policewoman arrived, with four(!) security guards. We were surprised to see some drinking and smoking among them – usually during Ramadan they show more restraint.
07.40. The lines now were well within the shed and so we joined one. It took 30 minutesin the cage to reach the queue at the checking station itself; then another 30 minutes to pass through. Everyone was getting very impatient at this long wait at the station. The soldier seemed to be questioning each person – and sometimes with misunderstandings because of language. (Natanya acted as interpreter to help two schoolboys negotiate their way through!)
In all it took an hour to go through – and this was long after the peak. For those who had been in that long line early in the morning it must have been so much slower. What a way to start a day’s work on a summer Ramadan!
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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