Qalandiya
A Red Crescent ambulance was already parked at the vehicles checkpoint, waiting. It waited for a long time.
The ambulance driver, an old acquaintance, called me to come over.
Before I cross the fence around the vehicle checkpoint, a woman-soldier yelled at me: You mustn’t!
It’s dangerous… They shoot… shouted Palestinians to me, on their way to the West Bank.
And even though my hands were exposed, and even they, armed with rifles, could see I had no gun nor even a knife, and even though the ambulance driver kept on calling me, I didn’t budge.
Fear paralyzed me.
After a long while, a Red Crescent ambulance from Jerusalem arrived, a man disembarked from the first ambulance, boarded the second one and was driven away.
When I was already on the other side of the checkpoint, next to me the ambulance that brought the man stopped and the driver – who had called for me to come and I didn’t – said: “Because of the time they had to wait, he may have lost his eye”, and said that the man works at Nablus’ Rafidiya Hospital, was hurt in a work accident and sent to hospital in East Jerusalem in an attempt to save his eye.
I don’t know whether the man finally lost his eye or not, but I do know that there are procedures that do not enable ambulances from the West Bank to reach Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem as quickly as possible. Namely, a West Bank ambulance may not cross Qalandiya checkpoint and an ill or wounded or even dying person can only be transferred back-to-back from one ambulance to another.
But these procedures were not heaven-sent. They were thought up by people.
**
Three years this man has been blacklisted by the Shabak (Israel’s Security Services). For three years, and he has no idea why.
Two months ago he came to the DCO again, entered the room and asked the captain sitting there to remove his name from the black list.
The captain it was no problem, but for this to happen the man must work with them.
But the man didn’t want to be a collaborator, that’s what he told the captain.
Okay, I have your number, the captain said. If I have any information for you, I’ll call.
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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