Qalandiya
A heavy day in Qalandiya.
05.15. When we arrived, parking on the Israeli side, it was still dark. There were already many people waiting for transport. Two ecumenical volunteers were outside, and we met another inside the hut. There were long queues extending beyond the hut. Five checking stations were open, and in the ‘aquarium’ were a soldier and policeman. At this stage, the queues moved in an orderly fashion and the few women arriving were allowed to fit in at the entrance to a cage. An elderly woman arrived with her young adult son. One could see that he was obviously handicapped in some way, both physically and mentally. The mother said that he had an appointment at the American Consulate at 8, and that he could not go alone. We advised her to join the regular line and not wait until the humanitarian gate should open – and they did so.
At about 6 a.m. the lines were very long, reaching right into the parking lot, and many people were waiting at the humanitarian gate. A guard and 4 soldiers of the D.C.O. – 2 officers and 2 soldiers who were being trained. They were joined by the policeman who had been in the aquarium and a policewoman. They began to allow ‘permitted’ people through the humanitarian gate. Others were sent to the regular lines, older people had to wait until 8 o’clock. After a while, three of the soldiers left, leaving one woman officer.
By now the kiosk had opened, so we went to buy tea from Iman who, we were glad to see was back.
We chatted with the ecumenical volunteer who was here for the first time at this hour, and was in a state of shock. We were telling him that today was relatively calm and reasonable, when suddenly the queues collapsed and a pile of people clambered around the cage entrances. As usual in such situations, older people drop out, and fill the benches to wait. It took a while for the pressure to lessen and for lines to form again.
Today people who were sent back from the checking stations came back through a gate next to the turnstiles (we couldn’t see exactly where). Among those returning were the mother and her son. She tried desperately to speak with the soldiers at the humanitarian gate, but to no avail. What did it matter to them that they had to be at the consulate at 8 o’clock and that the son couldn’t go on his own? The mother works without a permit (because of her age) and has to wait until 8. The poor woman couldn’t control her tears. We tried to comfort her and recommend that they go anyway to the consulate, even late, and to explain that they weren’t allowed through the checkpoint earlier. We hope that there they would get a bit more sympathy than from our ‘forces’ at the checkpoint.
Soon after 7, when the lines were short, we joined one and passed through in 20 minutes.
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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