Qalandiya
A busy morning at Qalandiya, the lines collapsing a few times.
05.15. Already as we approached on foot from the Israeli side, we could see that on the Palestinian side long queues extending into the parking lot. 5 checking stations were open. When the turnstiles were opened, the third one was not. We thought that perhaps it was still/again out of order, but when those waiting in the third lane started shouting, the soldier opened that one, too.
At 6 o’clock there was still no sign of ‘our forces.’ Women who waited at the humanitarian gate gave up and turned to the regular lines. The men in the leftmost lane let them fit in. A bit later a guard arrived, wandered around the aquarium and observed the queues, but only at about 6.20 did a D.C.O. officer arrive and he opened the gate a few minutes later.
We went outside to buy tea. The lines stretched to the parking lot, although shorter than before. But soon after we returned the lines collapsed. After a while they re-formed and there were some men among those waiting who tried to maintain order. But once they themselves joined the line and entered the cage, the lines collapsed again.
Only at about 7.30 did the lines get reasonably short. At about 7.45 we joined a line. While we were waiting, we saw that they were beginning to allow through the humanitarian gate also the older folk who are allowed through only at 8 o’clock. When we reached the line at the checking station we saw that the D.C.O. officer had left. At the checking station were two little girls in school clothing. The older was desperately searching her school bag. Apparently they had forgotten their birth certificates which would allow them to pass. At one point they decided to try anyway to pass. They entered together with us and had already reached the final – exit – turnstile when the soldier in the checking station called them to go back. After all, there has to be order, without a certificate even little girls on their way to school (with their school bags already checked) are a security threat …
Even at that ‘slack’ time it took us 35 minutes to pass.
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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