Qalandiya
I have been looking for him for a long time. Often in the past few weeks I asked policemen and security guards about him. They always asked me why I was looking for him and I always answered, “To thank him heartily”. They said: “Tell us, we’ll pass it on to him”. And I: “No, it’s personal. Just for him.”
Some months went by and every time I asked he was not there, he had just gone off duty, just went home. I realized that we simply come to Qalandiya Checkpoint at discordant times.
It all began 6-7 months ago when an event emerged from the vehicular checkpoint surveillance cameras – he was recorded saving from death a girl who walked into that vehicle checkpoint lane. That is a place where more than one Palestinian were shot as they entered it.
But what happened that day was different. As the girl proceeded, the PA system called out in Arabic: “Sit!” The girl froze and sat down. The voice continued and called out to the armed soldiers, “Don’t shoot, she’s young!” They obeyed and did not shoot.
When danger was no longer looming, neither to the girl from their rifles, nor to the armed men from the girl, one of them approached her, held her arms, lifted her up from the ground and took her somewhere.
I knew it was he who had shouted and saved her life. I decided to find out who he was, in order to praise and hail him and thank him. After a short while I found out his name and began to search for him.
This time when I asked, the answer was not the usual “He’s not here” or “He has just left”. The person I asked said they were friends and that if I want, he’d connect us by phone. I did. The fellow called and passed the phone on to me.
I told him what I planned to say, he was glad and said: “Look, it’s not that we shoot just for the sake of shooting. There’s consideration behind things.” I said I’d skip the first half of his sentence, but what I have to tell him is that his own consideration was excellent and I hoped it would stay that way forever.
We spoke another few minutes and parted in good faith.
Because I wish him well, I refrain from writing his name here.
**
Just a few minutes before 16:00 the group of patients returning to Gaza were allowed to emerge from the checkpoint. On this day there were no babies or children among them, “only” older men and women who painfully, tormented, carried themselves slowly, accompanied by the rifles held by DCO representatives in every step and move until they and their luggage were loaded onto the transport vehicle that then drove out of sight.
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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