Qalandiya
Security or bureaucracy?
All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:45, and people entered freely through one of the cages to join lines into the stations. But by 6:15 the lines already extended to the kerb of the parking lot, and so they remained until about 6:45, when they began to shorten and the cages all but emptied out each time the turnstiles were opened.
To the relief of those coming through the checkpoint, the Ramadan setup (which doubled the walk from the cages to the lines entering the checking stations) has been cancelled.
At 6:00 the NCO from the Civil Administration and a soldier who appeared to be learning the procedures came out to operate the Humanitarian Gate. They did not open it, however, and after a long wait those standing by the gate moved over to the lines going through the cages once the explanation for the wait was forthcoming: the soldiers in charge of the gate either forgot the key or took the wrong key with them, so that they could not open the gate at present. At 6:25 a policewoman arrived with the key, and the gate was opened a number of times within the next half an hour. The gate was closed (the two soldiers and security guards left) at 7:00, by which time the lines through the cages had shortened considerably.
At 7:05 we joined a line in one of the half empty cages and exited the checkpoint at 7:40. Most of the wait was on the line to enter the checking station because of an incident of a woman and her son who were headed to the American consulate to submit visa applications and had come equipped with a formal invitation to the consulate for that purpose.
The matter quickly turned into a classic case of lack of communication both because of language difficulties (which a young, kind-hearted, and Hebrew-speaking Palestinian man remained behind to help solve by serving as a translator) and because of hostility on the part of the soldier who “managed the event”.
Various reasons for not allowing the two to pass — all having to do with rules about visas, which were at any rate irrelevant to the matter — were given by the soldier From where we stood, we could not see whether the problem was actually the lack of a permit — though we did not hear the word “permit” used either in Hebrew or in Arabic and, in this day and age,we find it difficult to imagine that any West Bank Palestinian is unaware of the need to obtain a permit in order to enter Jerusalem. (Then again, who knows?) At all events, the matter went on and on until the soldier finally agreed to check with his commander on whether to allow them through, and his colleague resumed the flow of people into the checking station while the issue was being resolved. Due to a work commitment in downtown Jerusalem within half an hour, we were not able to stay around to hear the outcome of the dispute.
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-16-2026Qalandiya CP: shortcut
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