Qalandiya
A Big Mess
The Qalandiya checkpoint is neither built nor equipped to accommodate the number of people who may pass through it on a standard morning on their way to work, to school, to a hospital, etc., so that the passage through it turns into a daily punishment
All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:45 a.m. but the turnstile at the end of one of the “cages” was broken, leaving only two of the cages for passage. Attempts were made to compensate by allowing more people than usual through the two operational turnstiles each time they were opened.
Nevertheless, because of people jumping the queue through the gap at the entrance to the left cage – a planning oversight that we have been reporting for months as inviting calamity – close to 6:00 a.m. the discipline of the two lines (reaching into the parking lot) collapsed, and the consequent mess reigned for the better part of an hour. Only toward 7:00 did the lines begin to form again.
A family member of one of our guests was a political prisoner in a South American country. When we commented that because people here can’t take out their frustration on the system that causes it, they take it out on one another, he responded that the very same is also true in prisons – and that the checkpoint really resembles a prison both in its appearance and it’s atmosphere. Sad – and truly reflective of the occupation.
A DCO officer arrived at 6:10, opened the Humanitarian Gate, and operated it properly through the morning. He also took the trouble to inform us and our guests (at different opportunities) of the high tension in the area and warnings of possible terror actions. However, we decided to stay put through the end of the shift.
In addition, he explained that the problematic turnstile’s axis had been broken the previous day and would take at least another day to repair.
Later on, in a separate conversation with him, he told us of a plan to expand the pedestrian checkpoint from 5 to 10 checking stations. The building is scheduled to begin sometime in 2017, to continue for a year and a half, and to worsen the conditions at the checkpoint while it is in progress — meaning things will get worse before they improve.
We refrain from further comment.
At 7:20 we joined one of the two lines that snaked it way out of the shed, and we exited the checkpoint 30 minutes later.
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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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