Qalandiya - A woman whose two sons and 13-year old grandson are in jail
A woman whose two sons and 13-year old grandson are in jail
Quietly, fluently, as if speaking about someone else, as if this is not her own pain and suffering, a woman sitting down with me for a coffee told me about two of her three sons who are incarcerated.
And the third? –He’s little, in school.
The woman who had looked forward to the day when her livelihood would become her sons’ responsibility was disappointed and has to continue working hard.
“She makes the best cheese there is”, testified an acquaintance who joined our conversation.
When she finished her coffee she got up slowly, looked at me, sighed and added: “There’s the son of my son, a 13-year old boy, who is also in jail now.”
She picked up her cloth wrapped cheese load, took leave and went off to her toil.
That sigh echoed with thousands of others inside me and the face of the boy in jail reflected thousands of portraits of other boys, familiar and unfamiliar.
The way to the DCO offices was open, as was the entrance gate, but although the time was still earlier than closing time, the place was deserted.
They closed at 3:30 p.m. today, said a security guard. The soldiers went down to the Erez Crossing (Gaza Strip).
I didn’t ask what about the West Bank residents who need services of this place, but remembered what a man said about his experience crossing the renovated checkpoint:
When one begins it’s like walking inside a snake. And when one arrives at the end of the snake it’s like getting to this place… what’s it called? Where animals are butchered.
True, the man doesn’t know how to say ‘slaughterhouse’ in Hebrew, but is well acquainted with the anxiety and uncertainty of whoever needs this place and comes to it, the place that metes out the Palestinians’ fate.
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 FleishmanApr-16-2025Qalandiya: summer fruit
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