Qalandiya: Army fires in the refugee camp "like in Jenin and Tulkarm"
The volleys beat again and again and again and made the air and all the people’s hearts tremble.
“The army invaded the camp” (Qalandiya refugee camp), said an acquaintance who stood at the junction and warned peopled not to go home.
At another junction stood a group of young men, I among them, and with our cellular phones watched army activity in real time photographed from one of the camp roof tops.
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The sounds of shooting were heard on the screen and in the air and could not be told apart. We stood there horrified by the horror taking place right there.
I continued to look and my inner pulse united with the outer pulse of the shooting.
No one knew why, for what reason, they only said it was like Jenin and Tulkarm.
When the screen showed a young man being hit and falling in the middle of the road I stuck to the screen, but when the soldier hurried toward the victim’s body and kicked him again and again I could no longer watch. I covered my face as if wanting to distance myself, as if not looking would make it disappear not only from view and consciousness but from happening. As of by the power of my will I could make brutality and injustice go away.
We had no idea what happened to the man who was shot, whether he was still alive or not. Time will tell.
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What else happened in Qalandiya that day was the back-to-back procedure that took place for everyone to watch:
A woman was transferred among stretchers and ambulances and medical teams to East Jerusalem, in total abandon of her privacy and wellbeing. It is a sight that even after years and numerous ‘cases’ remains horrifying and shameful (this was photographed from a distance amidst the metal bars).
On my way back, before the first bridge, as an alarm siren knifed the air, I stopped the car, went out and waited by the roadside.
A woman joined me, saying she lives in Ashdod, and was on her way from visiting her son, hospitalized at Sheba Hospital, after being wounded in the Gazza Strip and undergoing 6 operations.
We stood next to each other until the interception explosions resounded.
We live in a mad state and never ceases to wage war.
Location Description
Qalandiya Camp
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Qalandiya Camp The camp was founded east of the village of Qalandiya in 1949 and became inhabited by Palestinian refugees from Jerusalem and the surrounding villages whose homes had remained on the Israeli side of the armistice lines. The camp was included in Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction after 1967, and since the erection of the Separation Wall has been disconnected from the city and become no-man’s-land between Jerusalem and Ramallah. It numbers about 10,000 inhabitants and many of them hold a Jerusalem ID. It is considered one of the most difficult camps both from a criminal and a ‘security’ standpoint, and also one of the most neglected and impoverished. It suffers from poverty, neglect, crime, illegal construction, and the lack of proper municipal services. Terrorist attackers have come from there, and it often seems ‘security’ incidents, numerous incursions, and arrests, including the killing of youths following stone-throwing.
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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 FleishmanJun-25-2025Qalandia: West Bank man injured in both legs
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