Qalandiya should be called Balagandiya
05.15. On the Israel side, many people had already come through and there were groups at prayer. But already from afar we could sense the crowds. And, indeed, three queues reached all the way to the street. Officially all 5 checking stations were open, but they seemed to work very slowly. The soldier working the turnstiles opened them quite frequently, but letting few in at a time. People waiting in line got very frustrated and at 5.55, the lines collapsed entirely, and people crowded round the entrances to the cages which were themselves packed tight. This, of course, made it very hard for women to fit themselves into the cage, as they sometimes do, making the opening of the humanitarian gate urgent.
When no D.C.O. officer had come by 6.05, we phoned and were told that this would be seen to. At 6.15 she did arrive (either coincidentally, or as a result) and after a couple of minutes’ attention to her smartphone, began attending to the crowd at the gate. There was still the chaos at what should have been a queue which gradually re-formed. Later, there was another collapse which, too,finally ended .
Again, people who could not cope with the struggling mass, dropped out to await quieter times. The scarcity of benches made some resort to sitting on the edge of rubbish bins or water fountains.
At 7.05 the D.C.O. officer left, leaving at least a few women still waiting at the humanitarian gate. We phoned Hanna Barag for help and, maybe thanks to her intercession, a guard came at 7.45 to manage the gate once again. (We have noticed in the past that this guard seems to be authorized to deal with the job. There now seems to be some control of the gate from inside the cubicle: he would call instructions to the soldier who would then release the catch – no hunting for the keys any more?) He was very strict about older people’s waiting until 8 a.m., and sometimes well after. There was one man on crutches who had to wait uncomfortably for a while (though we do not know the reason for this.) The guard left at 8.33, announcing that the gate was now closed. Anyone still waiting had to join the regular queue.)
It was only at 8.50 that the queues were as long only as the cages themselves, and we joined one. It took us 20 minutes to pass.
There is inadequate lighting on the path leading from the street to the shed, which makes crossing the steps left over from the previous parking-lot even more difficult in the early hours.
Also, inside the shed at least one lamp is not working. The beigel seller works in almost complete dark.
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-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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