Qalandiya
”Whenever there are problems in Gaza, it’s like a faucet that’s opened just a little bit. At least ill patients will be allowed exit”, explained someone who knows.
So they exited the inner compound at the checkpoint, fifteen people, patients and their accompaniers, got on their transport vehicle and drove off to recover at home, in Gaza.
First out was 7-year old Ahmad and his mother. “He has leukemia, Ahmad does. He was treated at the Nablus hospital of Al-Najah”, his mother said.
And I thought about the faucet image and of Ahmad and about the bent-down old woman, last to exit, whose every step was difficult and painful, and about the others of this day and other days, who might get no more permits to exit the Gaza Strip, and about the fact that their names might join a long and terrible list of anonymous victims.
For nearly three hours the Border Policemen conducted their hunting spree at the entrance to the checkpoint. They stopped youngsters at the end of a day’s work, inspected IDs and permits and asked some if they had a knife among their belongings.;
It’s rather stupid to seek the ‘unpermitted’ among those returning. But perhaps He who gave the rooster its mind bestowed it upon them as well?
קרוב לשלוש שעות נמשכה משמרת הצייד של שוטרי מג”ב בפתח המחסום, הם עצרו צעירים לאחר יום עבודה, בדקו תעודות ואישורים ואת חלקם שאלו אם יש להם סכין.
זה די מטומטם לחפש את חסרי האישורים בין השבים, אבל אולי מי שנתן בינה לשכווי נתן גם להם?
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-26-2026Qalandiya. Things you see on the way
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