Qalandiya
It was sad at Qalandiya. Just sad.
“Even ten years ago things weren’t this bad,” Shadi said, telling us about his neighbor, Muhammad Tarfi, who was murdered the previous night in Ramallah when, after midnight, he went to watch the World Cup and the army, which had invaded the city to make arrests and conduct searches and “uproot every green thing,” in the words of a senior military officer, opened fire on him.
Shadi showed me photographs of Muhammad he had taken with his phone not long before the murder when they were at a feast in Beitunya, and one more photo of Muhammad Tarfi, lying bleeding.
Later, toward evening, during Muhammad Tarfi’s funeral procession, settlers from Psagot (which is situated on the hills overlooking the cemetery), protected by the army, fired on the mourners.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=697375966999067&set=vb.132091353527534&type=2&theater
“It’s a crooked deal between the army, the Palestinian police and that fucking Abu-Mazen” said one man, expressing the very widespread conspiracy theory in Palestine according to which the three youths were never kidnapped.
It was too late to warn a friend who owned a shop on the main street what might happen to his security cameras or tell him that soldiers in Hebron shot out cameras outside of stores.
Already on Friday morning, before the big raid on the refugee camp, soldiers arrived and took/ confiscated/stole his own cameras, which had 
provided some security, or at least an illusion of security.
The remains of grenades and bullet cartridges were scattered on the ground(see pic on the right); armored vehicles facing Palestine testified to what had happened, and also, perhaps, on what will happen at this sorry place in the future.
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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