Qalandiya
We arrived at Qalandiya about 5.30. We parked and went on foot to the Palestinian side. At this time of the year is is already light. Ramadan has ended and the café at the parking lot is full. When we entered we were met with long lines which reached deep into the parking lot. The right turnstile was blocked by a police barricade and it seems that it is still (and again) not in working order. The Palestinians know about this and stand in the other two lanes. The parking area is also blocked and there are curbstones and building materials that indicate that construction is soon to to be carried out in June. H., our acquaintance, greets us and says that today we are late. He says that the Jews are a “stiff-necked people.” We talked about the Palestinian children being taken to the sea. His children are too big for that. He has only four sons. He had another four who died in infancy. He says that he and his wife are cousins and therefore there is probably a genetic problem.
Next to the traffic circle a bus collects the workers. H. and his friends explain that these are workers at “Of (chickens) Jerusalem” at Atarot. They have a special card (a worker’s card) and they go through in the bus without being checked. Afterwards a military jeep accompanies the bus to the factory to make sure that the workers are all going there and not to any other places.
Ramadan has ended and the bagel seller has returned. There is now a stall in the place where the kiosk was, but this was not opened there while we were there. The soldier in aquarium opens so as to let in a lot of people each time, and then the lines are shortened, but they still reach into the parking lot. Inside, queues stand near the inspection posts. All 5 are open.
The women go through in the ordinary line. Shortly after 6 AM, an officer from the DCO arrived with a security guard and the humanitarian crossing was opened, but the inspection was careful that only those entitled to should go through. A man who had to go to court tried repeatedly to speak to the woman officer and security guard to let him go through order to appear in a court is not included there.
Then another guard and policewoman arrived and relieve the soldier in the aquarium. At about 7 the lines were shorter and only inside the shed. After seven there was practically no line and so we joined it so as to go through. When there we saw that the woman soldier and the guard had left and the humanitarian gate was closed. There was no need for it. After 10 minutes we came to the window. 5 people were let in each time. We took some time to put our things through the X-ray machine and the three Palestinians who had been in front of us had already passed through and gone on their way. The turnstile closed and then the soldiers suddenly remember that though they had told us to pass that they still had to check something out. We were told to show our IDs again and then to pass them through the slot. They began to make telephone enquiries and the passage of Palestinians was stopped. Luckily the first three had gone through and we apologized to those waiting for the delay. Our suggestion to the soldiers that we would wait at the side and let those waiting go through was not accepted by the soldiers. After some minutes and some more telephone enquiries…to whom we do not know…we are allowed to pass.
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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