Qalandiya
The face of the cancer patients and others suffering from different serious conditions making their way home to Gaza does not disclose whether their extended families include someone who belongs to Hamas, nor is it written on the mask attached to their mouth at the hospital before their release. But those who either confirm or deny the patients arrival for repeat treatments know it all. They read material in the dark, or invent family ties and relations and facing the news that no more exit permits from the Gaza Strip on a humanitarian basis will be issued anyone whose extended family includes a Hamas member, they are probably doomed.
News a few days ago also included the speech made by General Poli Mordechai who told the Gazans that the Jewish-Israeli genius was bound to win.
Look at the children’s faces, General Poli Mordechai. Jewish-Israeli Genius??!
(Something about this genius can be read here: http://acheinu.co.il/?CategoryID=256&ArticleID=417
Two ambulances stood waiting, delayed, on both sides of the checkpoints. The delay resulted from a negligible case of negligence on the part of Occupation bureaucracy.
But that which is negligible in the eyes of the checkpoint operators was not at all negligible in the eyes of the patient sent to Muqassad Hospital in East Jerusalem for surgery in his urinary system nor in the eyes of the medical staff.
True, nothing was wrong with the permits, nor with the coordination procedures, otherwise the ambulance would not have gotten underway. What did go wrong was the communication between those sitting there in the Israeli DCO offices at Beit El and here, the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint. So Tony whose ambulance was carrying the patient made phone calls, connected here and there and opened up the knot. Then, as things were straightened out, the back-to-back could be completed.
Further on, a day earlier, a Jerusalem municipality inspectors unit escorted by police raided the vendors active between the Qalandiya refugee camp and the checkpoint, and fined each of them for 500 shekels.
Why? Because the area is within the Jerusalem municipal jurisdiction and they, the vendors who do not even live in Jerusalem, do not hold a vendor’s permit. That’s why.
For this one needs no genius. Only bad will.
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 FleishmanOct-11-2026Qalandiya. Female Beggar
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