Qalandiya - No Man's Land of life
Beyond the eastern tip of the refugee camp, on the sides of the main road to Ramallah, a place that for some reason I never bothered to lower my gaze to, a deep hole in the ground opens, like some black hole in the middle of the universe.
In view of my great wonder, a passerby told me that the place is owned by a person who several years ago began to build a house there, but the authorities – Israeli authorities, who else? – ordered him to demolish what he had already built, so that not only his investment went down the drain, the entire area became a kind of no-man’s land.
So then someone who regarded this void as a business opportunity went and opened a workshop for fixing motorcycles at its edge.
Life is very hard in the refugee camp, said my conversant and went on his way.
The place that resembles a garbage dump more than a normative business is a reflection of the place that according to Israeli jurisdiction (who else?) belongs to the Jerusalem juridical area and in fact is the no-man’s land of life.
Adjacent to the rubble of Abdallah’s shop and source of livelihood, the rubble of his neighbor’s shop is sown as well.
There was a kiosk there, inside a non-moving bus. The man, who two years ago was released from a 7-year prison sentence for shooting in the leg a man who collaborated with the Israeli secret service, found his livelihood selling soft drinks and cigarettes and snacks.
And now what?
Now the entire place resembles an area sown with the remnants of life.
Inside all this filth and junk and despair beyond the apartheid wall, seeing children like adults managing to overcome the walls and barriers and obstacles is a delightful sight, on which the Great Priest had commented:
“There is a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in…”
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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