Qalandiya, Mon 19.3.12, Morning
Translation: Judith Green
06:30
As we approach the parking lot, the usual high level of noise from the long lines, shouts and their accompanying shoving. Next to the Humanitarian Gate there are at least 100 people standing, women and children, in silence and not really understanding what is going on, why no one is opening the gate for them.
We contact the DCO and, 10 minutes later, an officer and his guard arrive and open the gate. There is still pushing and shouting, people fear lest they shut the gate in their faces. Two policemen come.
There is a short consultation, they open and close it two more times.
Everyone leaves, and only one soldier is left in the booth. He decides that the time has arrived for saying the morning prayers. He dons tefillin and once in a while he opens the metal cages, without anyone supervising or determining what the special needs might be of the people going through: small children on their way to school, mothers with children in their arms, students and adults. Everyone is in line for the turnstiles.
The whole subject of the passage through and the proper inspections was not handled professionally this morning, careless and thoughtless.
The inspectors looked like substitutes, not suitable for the job.
They didn't care about anything that was going on in this sensitive and awful place.
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 FleishmanOct-27-2026Qalandiya. Closure – Climbing over the fence
-
