Qalandiya: armed personnel attack helpless people
Judging the many armed personnel at the entrance to the checkpoint, clearly inside – invisibly – activity was very intense.
Crossing the line separating here from there, life by law of the state from life by law of the rifle, revealed that which had been invisible so far – the repeated attack by armed personnel of helpless people.
The immediate victim this time was Abu Absa, a man who has been trying for years to bring “bread and milk” to his family by selling fruits and vegetables to passerby.
This is an innocent, friendly man, bereft of any bad will. I found him standing there shocked, helpless, looking at most of his wares that had been thrown to the ground while yelling at him: “Get out of here! Scram!!:”
Acquaintances and random passersby all helped him – we gathered to the crates that which was still salvable, threw out that rest of the ruins and carried the filled and empty crates to the outer side of the compound.
People said that after the armed men finished ‘taking care’ of Abu Absa’s stand, they turned to the eastern side of Qalandiya Checkpoint, to the vendors situated on the eastern side of the checkpoint.
**
An acquaintance of mine, friend of my friend Abdallah Tamimi, welcomed me with the words: “Abdallah is not on the list”.
The names of prisoners supposed to be released in the expected deal, like the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, are keeping the Palestinian society very busy. “There’s a list of thirty names of the prisoners to be released first, and Abdallah’s is not included. He will probably be released later on”, the man said.
Abdallah has been in Ofer Prison for the past 11 months. He was arrested while driving his wife and children, taken off his vehicle and away. His old and ill father told me no one knows why and for how long. “They must be collecting cards for exchange”, the father said.
Not only Haaretz readers know about abuses of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Starvation and violence are known intimately by anyone whose luck has released them from those damned places. People speak about those who have lost a third of their body mass there, and come back bruised and wounded.
Haaretz:
Location Description
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 FleishmanApr-16-2025Qalandiya: summer fruit
-
