Qalandiya - Blurriness, mourning and rubble
Blurriness, mourning and rubble
Once again the Israeli army demolished Abdallah’s fruit shop.
Once again soldiers arrived, equipped with a demolition order issued by the Jerusalem municipality, once again the livelihood of the Tamimi family is ruined, the ground stained with remains and rubble, once again it is uncertain, that source of food for Abdallah, his wife, children and elderly parents.
The only thing left intact was the metal frame. Time after time after time.
What is invisible – is invisible.
That is visible is blurriness, mourning and rubble.
On both sides of the checkpoint, unceasing crazy works are taking place, who knows when they’ll be over.
In the west, destruction of the historical aerial landing field is near completion, the buses’ route has been blocked by fences and gates, holes in the ground are being dug, rocks blasted, infrastructure being set in place.
What will end up here? What are they building? – No one knows.
Some way it’s the birth of a new settler-colony, others that it is a new central bus station.
In the east, like primeval beasts fenced in by win enclosures stand heavy equipment units, their heads in the sky. Some say a new road is being built that would pass through Jab’a village towards the Rami Levi shopping center, others say a tunnel will be dug, leading to Rami Levi.
Both know the beginning of the works, not its final destination.
Eventually we’ll know, the people say. Yes. Eventually we’ll know.
All day the sky was clear and painfully hot.
During my passage on the bridge, on my way back, the southern skies wer clouded over with white-gray-pink, attesting to the fire in the hills.
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-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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