Qalandiya
Two patients in serious medical condition are handed over in back-to-back procedure within a single hour. Two patients passed from one stretcher to another by medical teams, not in an emergency room or trauma center. This happens at the checkpoint and is a common sight. “There have already been five since this morning”, tells me a young man whose vendor’s stand is right next to the checkpoint.
The first was brought here because of an internal hemorrhage in his abdomen, a man in danger of losing his life.
Eight hands of two medical teams who conducted his passing over seemed like a skillful and reliable machine.
However, in spite of the urgency and the fact that every minute might doom the man, those who set the priorities at the checkpoint have their own scale of values and human life is not exactly at its top.
Reality at the checkpoint is that of ‘regulations first’, and when regulations precede human life, officials don’t hurry.
First they check IDs, files and permits, and only then do they let a patient through.
The second patient arrived minutes after the first left. He is a cancer patient who had been treated in Hadassah (Jerusalem) and sent for further treatment in Nablus – not urgent perhaps because nothing is urgent any longer.
Critical, however, were the pains inflicted on this man with every move of his body. While being passed from one stretcher to another he gave out a sharp cry and then sobbed.
If ambulances were allowed to travel between the West Bank and Jerusalem, the man could have been spared his pains. But even the prevention of suffering is not considered here, where only the ‘regulations first’ principle counts.
Weeping is a rare sight in this place. People don’t cry here. Certainly not men.
Sometimes they groan, but usually grind their teeth.
The weeping of this sick man was also stifled almost as soon as it began, but continued echoing.
I looked at the girl-soldier and the security guard who were there on hand, making sure that every comma and semi-colon of the regulations be kept, and saw their eyes empty, like those of someone who has taken a shot of emotional anesthetic.
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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