Qalandiya
When we arrived at 09:10, the queue almost reached the benches. The place was dirty and the garbage bins were overflowing. Only three internal passages were open, and the queue almost didn’t advance at all. Ten minutes later there was a movement forward in the queue and a great number of people came in. But a few minutes later the queue became long again and reached the benches.
On the right there was a separate queue for women, among which there was a group of women who had arrived from Ramallah. At nine thirty there was a movement forward and the women’s queue became half as long as before. The girl soldier at the DCO which we contacted regarding the load, explained that an exercise was taking place and that when it would terminate within a few moments another passage would be opened. At a quarter to ten another passage was indeed opened and the queues became shorter, but a congestion sprang up in the interior passages.
A young man who accompanied a woman of about fifty who had much difficulty in walking and was carrying two heavy bags turned to us and asked for our help. We called to the soldier to open the humanitarian gate. Only after long minutes he emerged from the shed. In answer to our request to open the gate the soldier said ”if she came here on foot she can also pass through the regular gate”. She returned to the regular queue (see photo) but luckily within a quarter of an hour the soldier finished his shift and was exchanged by a nicer soldier who asked the woman to wait at the humanitarian gate until he called a policeman to open the gate. During all that time the woman wept from pain and was forced to sit on her parcels. We explained to the soldier that the policeman had to take the woman and help her pass. At 10:15 the policeman arrived and opened the gate for the woman and for a blind old man who arrived at the same time. When we left the place the queues were shorter but still advanced slowly.
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
See all reports for this place-
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
-
