Qalandiya - people who approached us asked for money
Totally Smooth Morning
We reached the checkpoint at 6:00 a.m. and parked in the pay lot on the Palestinian side. After a short visit with Abu Ramzi, the bagel seller, we situated ourselves at the foot of the steps leading up to the entrance to the pedestrian checkpoint. The lines flowed steadily through the three entrances throughout the shift, as the “traffic lights” above them were hardly ever red. There were no unusual events, and the people who approached us asked not for help with issues related to the checkpoint but for money, as a personal gesture on our part. That situation was new for us and left us quite uncomfortable, though it taught us that the rise in the cost of living has also had a strong effect on Palestinian life in the West Bank.
At 7:00 we passed through the stages of the security check simply and quickly, as one should. The Jaba checkpoint on Road 60, after the entrance to A-Ram, was manned, for some reason, slowing down traffic a bit. But there was no traffic jam on the Hizmeh road (perhaps due to the generally lighter amount of traffic in August).
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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