Qalandiya - About 3 workdays gone down the drain because of bureaucracy
About 3 workdays gone down the drain because of bureaucracy.
Naji is employed on night shifts at a plant working around the clock in the Atarot industrial zone.
He arrives at his workplace at 3 p.m. and goes home at 10 a.m. the next morning.
- When do you get any sleep, Naji?
- Whenever I can.
Naji has a transit permit. A week ago, this permit ran out. He went to the DCO to get a new one.
A transit permit by definition is temporary, so that a person – Palestinian – forever depends on the good or bad will of the sovereign Israeli.
The next day Naji came to work. His boss took a look at the paper and saw that the permit is valid from morning until 7 p.m. He sent Naji home.
- I can’t employ you against the law, said the boss.
- It’s probably a mistake, said Naji.
- Might be. But until you have a night permit, you don’t work here.
Naji went home.
The next day Naji asked his brother to go to the DCO.
The brother went there. He was told that only the person whose permit it is has to come and that they work until 5 p.m.
Another workday gone down the drain.
On the assigned day Naji came at 4 p.m. and couldn’t get in because the turnstile there was locked. He tried to gain the attention of the soldier behind the glass, the fellow with the finger that unlocks the turnstile. He yelled, soldier! No one saw him, no one heard a thing.
Naji went over to the parallel waiting line leading to Jerusalem, and realized that the same soldier was in charge.
He held up his papers to the glass and asked to be let through to the DCO office.
The soldier looked at the papers, nodded and said: it’s closed.
Well, what’s true is true. The DCO is supposed to work until 5 p.m. but the way there is locked from 4 p.m. Whoever made it inside is taken care of. Whoever remained outside – is out.
Another workday gone down the drain.
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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