Qalandiya
05.15. Still partly dark. No long lines in front of the sleeves, but many people waiting at the checking stations themselves. The parking lot is still blocked and there does not seem to have been any progress in the building program. The soldier in the aquarium lets in many people through the turnstiles each time. Thus the large number of people at the checking stations, but outside the situation is ‘reasonable.’
Women fit into the regular queue. After a while the queue becomes long, extending out of the shed right into the parking lot. The replacement soldier who came at 6, also lets in many people each time. A long line forms at the humanitarian gate, but no sign of D.C.O. staff.
At about 6.25 at last a D.C.O. officer arrives with a woman soldier to whom he explains the procedure. Meanwhile a guard has also arrived, with a policewoman. Only at 6.30 is the humanitarian gate first opened. The lines remain long. More guards arrive. Now and again some people would try to squeeze into the leftmost line, causing pressure, and it looked as if the queue would collapse. The other two lines were orderly.
At 7.25 the lines were by now short and we joined one of them. While we were waiting in line the D.C.O. personnel left and anyone arriving afterwards at the humanitarian gate was sent to the regular line. It took us 25 minutes to pass. At the checking stations the soldiers, even at 7.50, insisted that older people who are allowed to enter without passes at 8 o’clock must wait those 10 minutes.
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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