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Qalandiya, Mon 26.11.12, Afternoon
Observers: Natanya G. and Phyllis W. (reporting)
At 03:40 PM, four passageways were operating in the CP with very few people on line in each passageway. Immediately on our arrival, Passageway 4 shutdown in the face of 8 people who had been waiting on line for half an hour (as they told us), some of them workers on their way to the evening shift at work in the Atarot Industrial Park. The people scurried to get in line in the remaining lines. After about 5 minutes, the passageway reopened – apparently it had closed down for technical reasons.
(There appears to be a serious need for a solution for workers who have to get to work on time. Perhaps the IDF could open a dedicated passageway for such people?)
When we arrived at Qalandiya we saw that the western passageway for bus passengers was not working. One of the peddlers at the CP told us that the passageway had been closed for two hours. Why? No one knows! There was no sign of youths throwing stones, so why wasn’t the passageway operating? In any event, at 4 PM the active passageways quickly filled up with students coming home from classes in Ramallah.
At 04:20 PM passageways 2 and 3 closed down leaving only 2 active passageways, both of them overflowing. As a result, entrance to the CP from the northern shed was closed and a line of 30 quickly formed there as well.
We saw that a new sign had been fixed to the fence in the northern shed: “Photography is forbidden” in three languages. The sign didn’t specify who had issued the order.
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 FleishmanOct-27-2026Qalandiya. Closure – Climbing over the fence
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