Qalandiya
An orderly if slightly slow morning
All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. and the lines reached only to the edge of the parking lot. The situation remained thus for most of the morning.
The DCO soldier in charge of the Humanitarian Gate arrived at 6:05, but the key to the gate had evidently been left behind, and the security guard who accompanied him returned to fetch it. Hence the gate was not opened until 6:15 and then again each time a group of people stood before it.
We noted that throughout the morning the lines never extended beyond the first line of cars in the parking lot, and the turnstiles opened regularly every few minutes
We joined one of the lines at 6:35, after seeing that the cages emptied out almost each time the turnstiles were opened. Nevertheless, it took us 35 minutes to reach and pass through the security check. We had the impression that a new group was working in the security check because the soldier to whom the first of us showed her identity card reacted in bewilderment, even after she held up her MachsomWatch badge, and he called his commander for directives. Perhaps this was the reason for the slow pace at the checking stations.
We exited the checkpoint at 7:10. The incident in which a knife-yielding Palestinian was shot to death near the vehicle checkpoint (or so we understood from the news) occurred more than two hours later.
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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