Qalandiya
With an open back door out of which a rifle barrel and a soldier’s shout “Get lost!” are thrust towards a boy crossing the road, an army jeep exited the checkpoint compound proceeded several dozen meters and backed up. Perhaps the armed soldiers had an objective, and perhaps they lost their way and were scared.
“It’s very dangerous in Qalandiya” they always say. And I always answer that it’s dangerous for those who come there in uniforms and carrying rifles.
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The army has acted as a demolitions contractor yet again, and destroyed Abed’s snack stand to the ground.
40,000 shekels invested in building and equipment went down the drain. The area by the road was razed and exposed.
The snack stand is gone, nor is Abed here, but people’s need certainly is, so they moved an old abandoned structure, made openings, cleaned up a bit, bought some equipment placed it on old tires and created a kind of substitute – an improvised kiosk.
“It’s that son-of-a-bitch officer Shai who did this,” said a young man and added the story of his brother, caught in Jerusalem, who is now in prison for five months.
That brother in prison who is now twenty-two-and–a half, I remember him as a fourteen year old, led into the Ofer military court dressed in prison garb and dragging his leg chains, such a lonely sad boy, apparently detached from everything around him.
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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