Qalandiya
This was the home of the Shahid’s father, Shahid Ali Khleife, told me a shopkeeper – one of the shops above which the army demolished the home of the Shahid’s father in the refugee camp.
I knew Ali. I photographed him and brought him the picture – which was the last one taken of him in the 23 years of his life. It was placed in the mourning tent, after he had been murdered by Israeli soldiers of the Kfir brigade.
After the murder the army spokesperson announced that the Israeli army was looking into it. Eight years, and the army is still looking into it.
You ask why the home of Shahid Ali Khleife ws demolished? You come here so many years and are still asking why? An old acquaintance commented, and added: we’re sick and tired of this.
On my way from the refugee camp I saw an Israeli policeman dragging a Palestinian young man from inside the vehicle checkpoint towards the fence, push him against the metal rods, kick his legs in order to splay them, and conduct a deep search in his body and pockets, while watched over by an armed security guard.
When the body search was over, the policeman pulled his victim into one of the holds in the compound.
As I stood on the line separating the inside from the outside, the air was slashed by shouts: Get away you, scram. The shouts were accompanied by the waving of hands, as if to chase away a stray dog. I looked away and realized that the rifle barrels were pointing at me.
I wished to understand what I had seen, and in a short while I learned that:
The young man was on his way from the West Bank to his home in East Jerusalem. He didn’t have his ID with him. Perhaps he forgot, or lost it. But he did have a photo of it in his telephone. But this was not sufficient proof for the Israeli soldiers that he was he, and they chased him away.
He went back and tried to cross through the vehicle checkpoint.
The outcome was what I had seen.
Later I found out that in the hold, after questioning and checking and investigating – they let him go on to Jerusalem.
If the young man were to ask me, and he didn’t, I would recommend that he recite the Muslim version of “thank Goodness…”
From Wikipedia’s heritage site:
“The Thank Goodness citation praises God for saving the person who says it, who had been in a life-threatening situation”.
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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