Qalandiya, Sun 16.6.13, Afternoon
Translating: Ruth Fleishman
(*) Another victim of the system:
"Irja' lawarra" yelled the soldier at the inspection post to the Palestinian in front of him after taking and not returning his passage permit.
The man stayed standing as he presented before the window medical permits that testify to the illness of his daughter who was hospitalized at Hadassa.
Over and over again the man repeated these broken sentences: "My daughter is ill… but my little daughter…. My little daughter is all alone at the hospital…"
"Irja' lawarra" screamed the soldier.
The turnstiles locked. The man remained in his place. No one was allowed to enter the inspection post until this nuisance, this man who had come all the way from his home at Hebron to sit aside his daughter's bed, would turn back.
The man kept trying, he said that the permit was valid, that it was new, that he received it only four day earlier, that he had to arrive at Hadassa for his daughter…
In desperation the man requested that a police officer be summoned, hoping that he will be his salvation. His hope was natural. But why did we too think that a police officer might salvage him? Truth be told, it was silly of us, because after all the policeman would have arrived whether we liked it or not, and he wouldn't be able to overturn the verdict of the GSS.
"Irja' lawarra"– come tomorrow to the offices of the Muhabarat".
He will come, sure he will come. How could he not? But what shall be done in the meantime?
(*) How the system works: examination of the person's identity, a comparison of the personal details with those that appear on the computer, with a mock tone signalling that no malice is intended, the inspector requests that the person hand over the permit through the slit and once the Palestinian, being used to obey, slips the permit inside, he will never again get hold of it. From that moment on he is prevented passage by the GSS.
– And on the other side of the checkpoint the back-to-back procedure was taking place. Tony the paramedic said that the patient was suffering from a severe liver disease.
The man was too weak to pass on his own from one ambulance to the other, and so he was carried by the medical crew while the bag of urine and the catheter tube were exposed as his entire body was, before the eyes of the armed security men.
To them this is routine. To the man who was perhaps in his dying days, it was not.
But who really cares?- the only thing that matters is that the security of the state of Israel is preserved.
Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
See all reports for this place-
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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