Qalandiya
We arrived a little after 05:00. There are two lanes open at the car checkpoint, and the lines are short. In the pedestrian passage there is almost no line. Only three stations are open, and in a short while there is a waiting line. The tempo of passing the checkpoint was reasonable, but at this hour many people come and three stations are not enough. Towards 05:30 the lines start emerging into and beyond the parking lot. Around 05:40 they openned the two extra stations, and had moved many of the people waiting through three cages and turnstiles. We followed a young man wearing a distictive yellow shirt, and it took him 13 minutes until he disappeared from our sight.
In the meanwhile we drank a glass of hot tea and talked with H., whom we had seen in the past. He works in the market, at the bakery, and tells us that there is an old oven there, where they bake an Iraqui pita, and more. He tells us that groups of tourists come to them to see the oven. He invites us to come visit. He reports that yesterday too the passage was reasonable. According to him it depends on the soldiers at the stations.
A little after six there were lines from time to time, but they did not accumulate much beyond the fenced corridors, and did not get from the shed into the parking lot. Most of the people who usually wait at the Humanitarian gate went to the ordinary one. When the NCO from the DCO arrived, he and the policeman let people pass through the Humanitarian gate too, but there was no pressure on the gate at any stage.
06:25 – there is a line only in thecages. We left the place. We decided to try our luck this time going through Hizme checkpoint towards Pisgat Zeev, instead of waiting in the vehicle line in the crowded Qalandiya checkpoint. On the way there we saw sodliers standing on the side of the road, near the concrete observation tower. But they only looked at the passing cars and did not stop anyone.The way to Hizme checkpoint is of course longer, but there are no traffic jams and the passage is quick, without a need to show IDs. The problem is that even at this early hour the road after the checkpoint in Pisgat Zeev is jammed, so that either because of the distance, or because of the time it takes, it is better to wait at the crowded Qalandiya checkpoint.
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 FleishmanJul-21-2026Qalandiya. Conversation in the shadow of the wall
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