Qalandiya
A long, slow morning
All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. but the lines already extended well out into the parking lot, and so the situation remained all morning. The pace of advance was particularly slow, and when we followed a man who had just joined a line deep within the parking lot we found that it took him 35 minutes to reach the entrance to the checking station. Mornings like these are full of anger and complaints. On the other hand, we spoke with a man who said he had come to specially to Qalandiya from Bethlehem because the situation at the checkpoint there was even worse.
The Humanitarian Gate was opened at 6:05 (!), by the DCO soldier who has been on duty steadily for the past few months, and again each time people gathered in front of it until 7:13. Thereafter, she began sending people to the lines through the “cages,” even though the latter still extended beyond the shed.
We joined one of these lines at 7:20 and left the checking station half an hour later (most of the time spent on the line into the checking station itself). We had the impression that the slow movement was due to a new group manning the checking stations but were not able to verify this.
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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