Qalandiya, Mon 22.2.10, Morning
Qalandiya, 22.2.10 Morning .
05:15 –
A long line of people going to work extends all the way to the coffee salesman. People stood completely quiet and a short time after we arrived people began to complain and push in line. A woman soldier waits until there are at least three or four people in front of the inspection room and then lets them in. Of course only one sleeve is operating. Usually people wait in an orderly fashion and once or twice when young people try and jump over of get ahead the people restore order quickly.
At 06:00 people begin to line up at the humanitarian crossing.
At 06:30 I call to ask why they have not opened it yet and am told that they will be there any minute.
After 15 minutes Ivan, the policeman arrives with the officer from the Liaison and Coordination Administration. Ivan greets me coldly but politely. Perhaps the complaints about rudeness helped. After they opened the gate once they disappeared and I was told that there was a suspicious vehicle and that they were busy dealing with it.
I called several times and was told that any minute now they would finish with the suspicious car and return to the humanitarian gate. Meanwhile school children and women with babies have to make their way through the bars and get through the crowd of men waiting.
Finally after at least an hour another policeman and officer from the Liaison and Coordination Administration arrive, but they would not open the humanitarian gate until a civilian policeman after another ten minutes. The lanes were filled with people until 07:15.
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-11-2026Qalandiya. Ambulances wait in front of a closed checkpoint
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