Qalandiya - a mother and her invalid daughter don't pass. Only the mother has a permit. Come back tomorrow.
“Next week you have elections”, a young Palestinian said to me. “Bibi will be elected once more, and will continue to f–k you.”
For many months they have been destroying and building, and destroying and building and disrupting life and everything is full of dust that makes breathing nearly impossible, the car park has been sequestered and ruined and is being re-tarred to serve not for parking vehicles, a tower is growing – some way it will be for a bridge, others say that here, not like in places for Jews, only when they’re done do we know what it will be. No one knows, either, why heavy equipment has been destroying the public transportation lane, which causes buses to crowd into the private vehicles lane.
After I was released from a mere-10-minute detention and my ID was returned to me, and I was already on the other side of the checkpoint, I saw them – the mother and her disabled daughter in a wheelchair, nearing the inspection posts, so I stopped. I thought the soldiers would immediately come to them and open the way for a disabled person. I was wrong.
A slight story of procedures ensued. A story, not of evil, nor of meanness.
A story about two women, a policeman, two security guards, three soldiers, and I – on the sidelines.
The mother showed the two green IDs, her own and that of her 27-year old disabled daughter, as well as a transit permit.
“This is your permit, you may pass, but she (the daughter) has no permit. She does not cross”, so they said.
It never occurred to the mother who came ahead of time to the offices that her daughter needs a permit too, a daughter who can neither get up nor walk and has uncontrolled seizures every few minutes. Only here, where what does or does not occur to a person, has no value whatsoever, here only official procedures count.
Whoever has a permit, passes. Whoever does not – does not.
“Get her back home and then you can cross”, the mother was told. But the disabled daughter needs constant care and there is no one to do it except her mother.
The woman tried to persuade them, so did I – in vain.
It’s not that they’re heartless, it’s what they do have that counts.
What they do have is procedures and offices, but the offices were already closed.
- “Come tomorrow.”
- She’ll come. Sure she’ll come.
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
-