Qalandiya - Last shift at the old facility?
The Last of These Scenes?
On the way from the parking lot to the pedestrian checkpoint, we could already see lights burning in the new building alongside it, and we wondered how long it would be before it goes operational. It took us a while to see and receive translations of the announcements about this tacked up in the sleeves leading to the checking stations. But even before reaching there, the Civil Administration soldier responsible for the Humanitarian Gate informed us that the opening would be on the following day (20.2.19) at 11 a.m. Later on we walked outside to see what we could of the new building behind the tin walls preventing entrance to it. To our regret, however, we could not see much. We will report and take photos of whatever we can next week.
In the meantime, our last shift (or not) at the old pedestrian checkpoint passed as usual. Although all five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:25, the lines through the cages were very long and grew longer as the morning progressed because the movement forward through the cages – and most pertinently into the checking stations, which dictates the progress forward in general – was agonizing slow. At 6:15, as we feared, the lines collapsed – precipitated by a well-coordinated “operation,” of sorts, by a group of young men who bypassed the lines, entered the shack, gathered alongside the cage on the left, and pushed to enter it from the side when the turnstiles opened. What followed was the familiar scene of a crowd of impatient men pushing to enter the cages, accompanied by whistles, shouts, and other signs of anger, for the better part of half an hour before the lines formed again. We hope that this is the last performance of this scene forever.
The Humanitarian Gate opened at 6:16 and was managed successfully by a seasoned Civil Administration officer and security guard despite the pressure (due to the mess by the entrances to the three cages) from men not entitled to pass through it. One of these men angrily demanded that we order the officer to open the gate to all comers (because of that mess). But when we replied that we’re not the soldiers’ “bosses” and can’t give them orders, he replied with a smile: “Good answer!” and seemed to relax a bit.
The Humanitarian Gate was closed at 7:15, after lines could again be seen entering through the cages, although no few women and couples with infants and toddlers were still expecting it to open for them. A bit later we saw that a number of the women had abandoned the gate and joined the left-most line through the cages, though not at the end of it, so that they were being crushed while entering the cage from the side and being pushed forward in it. This sight, which is very disturbing when it happens to men, is even more distressing when it happens to women.
We joined the shortest of the three lines through the cages at 7:20 (and afterward the shortest of the lines entering the checking stations), and it took us 30 minutes complete the exit procedure.
Naturally we are more than curious about the coveted improvement promised with the opening of the new building and about the fate of the existing facility, which shows signs of renovation work started in it.
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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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