Qalandiya
An archeologist friend who returned from Egypt immediately following the signing of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty concluded as follows:
-Do you know what maintenance is?
-Yes.
-They don’t.
Why did this come up now? Because a new one-way lane for pedestrians has been opened at Qalandiya in the direction of Palestine.
A terrorist shooting took place near the Ofra settler-colony. Closest to this site is the Palestinian village of Siluad, on whose lands the colony was founded. The Israeli army has blocked all roads to and from Siluad.
Israeli media say Siulad has numerous Hamas activists and even Khaled Mash’al was born there. Even Khaled Mash’al.
A fellow from Siluad who works at the coffee stand in the junction opposite Qalandiya refugee camp told me of a lull in the blockage of his village in the dawn hours, and that he took advantage of this time lapse between closures and hurried out. He already made it to Qalandiya by 4 a.m., four hours before his work day begins.
This is collective punishment of all inhabitants of a whole village only because they are the closest to the attack site, and because this is the easiest way to react.
I don’t know of anywhere else in the world where a child must at all times be with his/her original birth certificate, and cannot move without it.
Seeing the two brothers – the elder 13-years old, a concerned child with a mature look leading his 9-year old brother – as each of them places his birth certificate against the armored glass window of the checking post behind which an armored soldier stands, and each in his turn was questioned to make sure he was he, and only when they were cleared of any imposter suspicion were they allowed to cross the checkpoint, standing behind and next to them I felt that I was witnessing an insidious act of child abuse.
Insidious, why? Because a child should grow up amidsdt affectionate circumstances, not under constant suspicion and threat.
Because a child should be able to walk confidently to wherever he is headed and not fear that he would be denied passage or be detained.
Because adults should be protecting children, not against them.
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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