Qalandiya - exchange of sick people between 2 ambulances
A 40-minute wait for an ambulance to arrive from Jerusalem is not long but ample time to see the Border Police hunters raid buses and private vehicles, make workers on their back from work stand in line and ordering drivers out of their cars to conduct a thorough search inside.
Here, in the few meters between greater-Jerusalem and Palestine everyone is suspect.
40 minutes that are possibly disappointing for the hunters. Perhaps by chance they caught no prey, and perhaps Palestinians have learned that this is hunting hour and chose alternative routes.
After those 40 minutes our attention was turned to the two ambulances that finally met and exchanged their dual human cargo.
A man after head surgery was brought back from Jerusalem to the West Bank, and another whose gait is wobbly, unbalanced, was transferred to Muqassad Hospital in East Jerusalem for neck surgery.
No mention or asking about ambulance traveling directly from the West Bank to East Jerusalem or back.
Such are the regulations/rules/edicts, namely – ways to break the Palestinians’ spirit and body both.
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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
-