Qalandiya
We arrived to Qalandiya “late” – at 05:30. The queue was very long and reached beyond the parking lot, and the progress was very slow although all the posts were open. We complained a few time and received various explanations some of which sounded relevant – but for the people standing in the queue in the terrible cold they didn’t help. When we left at 07:30 it still took us three quarters of an hour to progress in the queue.
The effect of Qalandiya, and for all effects and purposes every checkpoint, on people who are not “used” to seeing this, is very interesting. We may have gotten “used” to the checkpoints in the last 16 years, and perhaps the Palestinians too succumbed to this horror – and then strangers arrive and react as we did at the very beginning. One stops seeing the bureaucracy and sees the people whose rights are trodden on mercilessly and cruelly.
I was asked many questions, one of which – a question we are always asked, is whether we had achievements. I thought that the mere fact that we are documenting there for 16 years is an achievement – that we didn’t break and persevered nevertheless and in spite of everything.
I departed from the students mortified and crushed – an occupation that has a state…
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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