Qalandiya - Just like you got rid of Netanyahu, we’ll get rid of Abu Mazen
That which had been a rumor regarding the building of a new settler-colony in the area of the landing strip, is now becoming a reality.
The area which according to the Trump plan was supposed to become a tourist area for Palestinians has changed direction and is going to be a very large neighborhood for Jews.
The heavy equipment has been brought and works are rapidly proceeding. They work so close to the wall that the noise comes in and disturbs the sleep of the refugee camp dwellers from the early morning hours. https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/.premium-1.8553130
Everyone is speaking and wringing their hands about the recent going-on in the Palestinian Territories and nodding their heads, saying that the end of Abu Mazen is closer than ever, for having caused the murder to the hero Nizar Banat.
Just like you got rid of Netanyahu, we’ll get rid of Abu Mazen, they say and curse the head of the Palestinian Authority.
This anger in response to the murder of a Palestinian by the Palestinian police, in contrast with a kind of acceptance, almost as if it is the way of the world that Palestinians are ‘normally’ murdered by Israelis, reminds me of something that happened when a friend of mine who had a house surrounded by a well-tended garden was victim from time to time to soldiers’ incursions to his home – for mapping or searching or just for fun. He decided, advised by his wife, to move to an apartment in a high-rise located in a different neighborhood, for the sake of their traumatized children. There would be no garden to sit in, but at least a kind of security at night.
One day a force of the Palestinian police broke into his present home and vandalized it. Not the kind of pogroms that Jews hold, but still…
-
I know who gave the order. It’s someone who hates me. I’ll kill him, said my friend.
-
No you won’t, I said, you are not going to begin a chain of bloodshed.
-
I’ll kill him, he repeated again and again. It’s much more painful and insulting because these are our own, they are us. It’s not like the Jews who are not our brothers. When I lay my hands on him, I’ll kill him.
Never, ever were the soldiers and security personnel so glad with me as I crossed the checkpoint as they were this time.
Only when I arrived at the end of the checking track, only before my exit, I recalled that an hour earlier I had bought from Khaled – whom I know and befriended ever since he was 7 and is now nearly 20 – a green little monkey that Khaled hung on my neck.
Thanks to that little monkey I got smiles and waving hands and a lot of joy in the eyes and faces of all those inspecting and guarding at the checkpoint, all of those who usually delay me and scold and question me why I was coming from the side that is out of bounds for Jews, the “red side”, and tell me how dangerous it is over there. They all replaced their rage with joy!
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 FleishmanJun-8-2025Qalandiya: Emptiness in public space
-
