Qalandiya
A Red Crescent ambulance carrying a woman after a series of treatments at the East Jerusalem hospital Augusta Victoria* arrived at the area of the checkpoint compound where “back-to-back” loading procedures are held.
The medical crew said they are waiting for two ambulances from the West Bank. The Red Crescent ambulance that is supposed to bring the said cancer patient to Ramallah, and a private ambulance bringing the body of a deceased Gaza resident who died in Al Najah Hospital, Nablus, whose remaining travel – from Qalandiya Checkpoint to Erez Checkpoint – will be completed in the Jerusalem ambulance.
We/they waited.
We/they continued to wait.
Time passed. Then news came – that the ambulance that was already on its way to pick up the cancer patient was summoned to the scene of a traffic accident and would not arrive.
Problem. What should be done with the patient waiting in the ambulance? Were her condition not so serious she would not be needing an ambulance to begin with, but here she is, in the ambulance, her condition very serious, and here is also the deceased, whose condition is – well… and there are also the four members of the two medical teams here, and security personnel, and soldiers, and one policeman are all here, and they are very unhappy.
It was decided to transfer the woman to a bus.
The cancer patient was taken out of the ambulance, and her daughter and a Red Crescent medic held her arms and helped her reach the bus headed for Ramallah.**
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*To find out why the woman must make the difficult journey between Jerusalem and the West Bank, see here on +972 (Mekomit, or “local call”): http://mekomit.co.il/%D7%A1%D7%A8%D7%98%D7%9F-%D7%9E%D7%97%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9D
** In view of the fact that there was no ambulance to carry a cancer patient to Ramallah, I decided to try and check the situation of the Red Crescent’s ambulance fleet.
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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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