Qalandiya, Mon 2.4.12, Afternoon
Qalandiya was not quiet today. One after another young men and boys ran up to the CP, right among the vehicles waiting in line to cross to Jerusalem, and rained down a hail of rocks. At least one windshield was broken. Our friend the candy peddler said that this had been going on since 13:30. A group of soldiers fired tear gas canisters at the boys and then retreated to the Israeli side of the CP. Eyes and nostrils were burning. Natanya was caught in the square until a Palestinian youth pulled her to safety behind a concrete barrier. I fled into the pedestrian CP to recover.
Two passageways were active but not full. However the soldier on duty in the northern shed kept the entry carousel closed so that a line of 40 formed and waited in the narrow barred entry passage. After several minutes the PA system announced that the western passageway for bus passengers had been closed. As a result the flow of people into the CP got stronger and stronger. Despite this state of affairs, the authorities did not open another passageway for the crowd of people waiting nor were conditions alleviated by feeding a steady stream of people into the internal passageways.
A laborer returning to Palestine from his day's work in Israel took the opportunity to complain to us that he had to wait in line three hours every morning (from 3 AM to 6 AM) to pass through Qalandiya CP so he could get to work. He angrily attributed these conditions to the fact that the soldiers on duty don't do their job (as we have repeatedly reported). How do these people survive?
Towards the end of our shift a soldier approached the post in the northern shed accompanied by a frightened-looking Palestinian boy of about 15. The soldier told us that the boy, the son of one of the peddlers selling fruits on the road to A-Ram, had been caught without papers in Jerusalem and was being returned to the Palestinian police. Suddenly, the boy's tiny younger brother, Haled the water boy (aged 6 or 7), came up to us. He looked very worried but proudly told us that his brother had been arrested yesterday by the soldiers for throwing rocks at the CP. The soldiers had delivered the boy to the police in Muscovia Station where the boy had spent the night.
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 FleishmanApr-26-2026Qalandiya. Things you see on the way
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