Qalandiya: First Ramadan Friday
Gray was very gray and wet, too.
It seemed that most of the people who braved the weather and restrictions imposed by the authorities and came from all over the West Bank to Qalandiya Checkpoint, stepping over the high threshold of the only gate that was not closed, and held out their hands to the officers standing on the other side of the gate handing them their identity and age documents, were rejected and had to go back and skip over the high step, crowding out of the filthy area called ‘sterile’.
Whoever managed to arrive at the first checking post were rejected at the next one and removed from there by way of the bypass road downhill.
Unlike previous Ramadan Fridays, no attempts were made to prettify toughness of heart, no holiday greetings by the ruler, no language laundries like humanitarian passage and/or lighter restrictions for women, children and the elderly.
All people rejected regardless of gender, age and state of health no longer had the right to observe their faith and pray at their holy shrine.
A quick glance etched the rule of the rifle, of which the armed men are simply the extension. They do not exist without it.
The rifle has no emotions, nor do those who hold it. Both never answered clarification questions, bent to requests nor begging.
The rifle has no emotions, nor do those who hold it. Both never answered clarification questions, bent to requests nor begging.
At a quarter past eleven, the entry gate was slammed shut and metal barrier were loudly dragged into place. We who did not yet cross the line between here and there remained outside.
No answer nor any solution was provided the people who have permits to get to Al Aqsa, elderly people who dreamt of praying there, holders of blue (Israeli) IDs who work in the Qalandiya/Atarot industrial zone and held special permits, I among them.
As if in honor of International Woman’s Day, a group of women gathered whose elderly age had not helped them. They too had to go back behind the metal fences, women who never knew each other until that day and at once became sisters to the pain of rejection, standing for a long time outside, frozen and wet.
And I? After nearly an hour I got out. But I am the teller of the tale, not its subject, so I spare you the details.
I must only say that when I got out of this hellish place, I was flooded with anger mixed with fear of what awaits us and them. Suffocating shame of the cruelty towards humans is above it all.
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
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