Qalandiya
Difficult morning
Only four checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. (the fifth opened at 6:20) and the lines into the checkpoint reached to the end of the parking lot. The soldier in charge of opening the turnstiles, so that people could approach the checking stations, was very stingy in allowing people through. Thus a steady buildup of tension was palpable. It peaked at 6:00, when an altercation broke out at the entrance to the left cage – which is always a magnet for violence because of queue-jumpers—and the line discipline collapsed altogether. For the next hour, men fought each other at the entrances to the three cages, while most people simply milled around the shed. Lines began to form again only at about 7:00.
The Civil Administration soldier arrived at 6:18, together with a security guard, and began to operate the Humanitarian Gate. This was quite a challenge, at first, as many men who are not entitled to go through the gate were milling about in front of it hoping for a chance to slither through. As the soldier checked some of the permits, the security guard stood between the gate and the inner turnstile, turning back all those who were not entitled to pass through. As the three main lines through the cages began to form again at 7:00 or so, there was less pressure on the Humanitarian Gate, with only women, teachers and school pupils, and people headed to the hospital approaching it, and they were immediately allowed through. The soldier, whom we had never seen before, was quite friendly in his interactions with the Palestinians.
We, however, were approached by one angry man after the next, essentially serving as lightning rods for those who run the checkpoint and the people of Israel, as a whole. One young man summed up the situation at Qalandiya as “collective punishment.”
“We live in Judea and Samaria,” he began (and it’s upsetting to hear a Palestinian using that terminology). “We come here every day, essentially to work in the houses of the officers and even of the soldiers. We’re building the State of Israel. And what do we get for it? Look around you. We’re treated like animals.”
“This occupation is a cancer, but it won’t last forever,” another, who was denied passage through the Humanitarian Gate, warned us. “This is our land, and the day will come when we will take it back!”
It’s been a while since we’ve heard such an outpouring of rage at the poor management of the checkpoint and the humiliation entailed in the daily grind of getting through it. Of course, because the lines had vanished, we couldn’t gauge how long it took people to transit the checkpoint. But due to the shouting and pushing and climbing and whistling that went on for the better part of an hour by the entrances to the cages, the morning seemed endless.
At 7:25, when the lines were mostly contained within the shed, we joined one and were through the security check and out the other side in 30 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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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