Back to reports search page

Qalandiya Camp

Place: Qalandiya Camp
Observers: Aya K.,Tami B.,Ilana H.,Roni H.
Oct-05-2004
| Afternoon

Qalandiya, Tuesday, 5.10.04, PMObservers: Aya K., Tami B., Ilana H., Roni H. (reporting)The street vendors, who gave such colorful evidence of the vitality of the Palestinian population, are now almost completely forced out of the checkpoint area! Only one fruit vendor in the south has not yet given up and has moved his stall to the road to Ar-Ram, and one in the north, trying to sell shoes in the middle of the road, in constant danger of being knocked down by the passing cars.The car line heading south streches endlessly along the Qalandiya camp road. Drivers prepare themselves for a 2 hours wait and get out of their car in order to move their legs and exchange some words. Only one lane is being checked! In the checking area we discover a new sign-board, warning us, that we are about to enter Palestinian Authority territory! Have we returned the northern Arab neighborhoods, which were annexed to Jerusalem in 1967, to the Palestinians? God forbid! Quite to the contrary! A woman soldier explains to a passing man that Ramallah is actually in Israel!

  • Qalandiya Camp

    See all reports for this place
    • 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.  
Donate