Qalandiya - sick from Gaza waiting after Erez CP was closed for a week
After the Erez Checkpoint (crossing from the Gaza Strip) was closed for a whole week by order of the Minister of Defense, it was now opened again.
Where did women, men and children ill with severe diseases stay for the duration of this collective punishment, having been released from hospitals during that week? Not where they were supposed to, certainly not in bed at home.
Many assembled and came, come of them there already in the morning, for fer of being late for their transport. Others arrived later in the day.
People who have long suffered sat and waited for hours without food or drink in the space opposite the DCO offices, until they were instructed to exit the checkpoint compound.
A long line of people laden with packages exited. For reasons of bureaucratic procedure it was held up until everyone arrived, dozens of people, and only when the Civil Administration people were sure that everyone was there and no man or baby had escaped and was missing, did they allow them to board the bus that finally got on its way to Gaza at 5:15 PM.
Earlier, opposite the soldiers’ post, a loud argument took place between the person behind the reinforced glass window and the woman facing him.
What happened was that when the woman (in the photo) passed the metal detector, a bleep was heard. The woman returned and passed again, and the bleep resounded again.
Take off your belt, the soldier shouted.
The woman didn’t know one word of Hebrew, nor the soldier of Arabic.
Translate for her, the soldier ordered some fellow. The man obeyed and translated.
Take off your belt, the soldier repeated. The woman refused – the belt held her dress together, if she would take it off, the dress would open.
She should take off her robe, the soldier yelled. The woman refused.
Take off your robe! The soldier insisted. The woman refused to strip.
When the soldier gave up trying to make her take her belt off the dress which he insisted on calling “the robe”, he told her to enter through the red door. The woman vanished behind the red door behind which is the hold, a tiny cell with a window facing the soldiers’ post.
We on the outside were witness to a kind of bi-lingual absurd theater and could not know or suppose what took place inside, now if and when she was released from that place where, except for her, only men were present.
I’m not saying something there took place which I dare not even type here.
What happened there much earlier was a manhunt conducted by two policemen who weren’t satisfied until they managed to get their hands on two young men and take them inside for detention or arrest or interrogation.
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 FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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