Qalandiya - No queues are created at the entrance to the checkpoint
A Calm and Steady Morning
The problem of lines building up at the entrance to the Qalandiya checkpoint, which we and our colleagues have reported on the past weeks, did not exist this morning. The “traffic lights” above the three entrances to the checkpoint building remained green throughout our shift, and the flow inward was smooth and steady. From time to time people greeted us good morning or waved at us or simply smiled as they walked by, and no one approached us with a request for help with a permit that was confiscated or a permit request that was denied or any other problem. From a short conversation with the bagel seller, we were happy to learn that the problem of the lines had not returned recently, and the fact is that no one passing through approached us to comment about it.
Our passage through was also quick and easy. There is, however, a new procedure for those who do not have biometric permits: We were asked to pass our identity cards to the soldiers inside the glassed-in booth, through an opening for that purpose, and they were then inserted into a machine that apparently registers their details in a data base (presumably noting our passage through the checkpoint). However, it seems that this works only with biometric IDs (or so we understood). Although neither of us has one of these, our ID numbers were not typed into the system, as they had been in earlier years — until one day the soldiers stopped recording our presence and simply waved us through, as though we were part of the scenery.
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 FleishmanJun-28-2026Qalandiya. The bridge leading from Jerusalem to the Qalandiya checkpoint
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