Qalandiya
An especially slow morning at Qalandiya.
Only 3 windows were open when we arrived at 5.10 and the lines were fairly short. But until another two windows opened at 5.25 the lines reached far into the parking lot. And this remained so until 7.00. The lines reached to the middle area between the cages and the edge of the covered area when we left at 7.15. So the administrators of the checkpoint did not manage to achieve their goal (supposedly according to the pattern of the last weeks). That is to empty all the lines by 7.00 and definitely did not manage to shorten by even a moment the waiting period for those using the checkpoint. The exact opposite, the stream of people in the morning was very slow and stopped completely for 10 mijutes in the lines of 3 asnd 4. When we tried to speak to the policeman on duty about what had caused this delay in the two lines he answered in a cynical manner that the soldiers had gone to the toilet. The humanitarian gate was opened at 6.10 by a policewoman with a guard. The captain of the DCO who was responsible for the gate only arrived at 6.25 and continued opening so long as people collected there.
We were amazed at the patience and the quiet of those waiting in spite of the length of the lines.
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
See all reports for this place-
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 FleishmanJun-28-2026Qalandiya. The bridge leading from Jerusalem to the Qalandiya checkpoint
-