Qalandiya - Fourth Ramadan Friday
Qalandiya – Fourth Ramadan Friday
The meager traffic on the overhead bridge shows what is happening on the ground.
Not many have reached the only opening meant for the very few, and the very few of them managed to get through the selection held without any compassion, or consideration or answering the criteria they themselves had set.
The right-hand tracks are meant for those whose passage is approved, and the left-hand track for those turned back. (There is something horrifying in right hand- and left-hand track selection).
There are not many customers, said a shopkeeper in the refugee camp, and did not mean shop customers…
People had been chased away from there, some of them with pseudo sympathy such as “too bad, you must be tired and thirsty, I’m saying this for your own good, go home and rest, you shouldn’t come here”, and most of them with a waving weapons in hand and saying simply No, sending people to the left.
She was up to the criteria. She had valid permits. Even two vaccination certificates. |
On the other side – not a true word.
What could show the lie among declarations about freedom of worship is the juxtaposition of the two women at the same time and the same place.
One is holding up the permits which in spite of being all valid did not help her cross the checkpoint and was chased away, and the other holds a rifle pointed at heads of people who have arrived here.
The one waved her documents and poured out her bitter disappointment, and the other was jubilant: I am on top of the world!
On the three previous Fridays I was not allowed to cross into the compound, or as they said: “You are not allowed to cross to the red zone”.
This time the problem went the other way: they let me cross the checkpoint there and back, but I could only continue by bus. But the buses are directed to the Al Aqsa Mosque and my own car is parked near the turn towards the Industrial Zone of Atarot, and that’s where I was headed. They say I can’t.
After exchanges of words, we reached a kind of compromise. Not to the main road, but yes, walk over the old tarmac by way of the buses.
On my way I saw wonders. First was the withered airport terminal and then a turn to the right that led to a shaded track followed by the neighborhood called Matar which I hadn’t known.
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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