Qalandiya
As if it weren’t enough that the Gaza patients’ exit is potholed and filled with rain puddles, there is yet the metal gate that was locked and made it very difficult to pass their numerous bags through the narrow turnstiles.
When I wondered why they were not allowed to exit through the compound’s main gate which would make their departure so much easier, someone who knows the system well had the answer: “Making things easier for them is not quite the point here…”
A woman carrying her 40-day old baby in a sling in one hand, and her bags in the other hand, stopped in front of the puddle stretching the entire breadth of the road, fearing to trip. When she saw me on the other side of the water, she handed me the baby to be taken to the designated transport vehicle.
There is something quite delightful carrying a baby making its very first journey home and wish him and his mom all the best.
My delight was erased at once at the sight of armed, uniformed Israelis arresting two children. These are the brothers Rajabi of the Qalandiya refugee camp – the elder is 14-years old, the younger d12, said a man who recognized them in the photos I had taken.
The next time their parents will see the children will be at the Ofer detention base and military court.
What took place was that the boys were standing on the main road in front of the refugee camp and throwing stones at the corner watchtower. It’s true that the cliché says stones kill, but these boys and their stones were no threat to anyone. The watchtower is unmanned, and the children were competing with each other whose stone would hit the tower and make a sound. And indeed, every hit gave a metallic sound… thus until they were arrested.
I don’t know who summoned the armed men, whether the cause was the stones’ sounds, or the cameras that don’t miss a single thing there – I just know for sure that the arrest was only a prologue for the teargas clouds that were fired near the wall and the clouds that covered the refugee camp like flocks of white goats.
Don’t worry, things will get better, said a friend, in an attempt to reassure himself, and my.
Only the first one-hundred years are difficult. Then things work out…
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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