Qalandiya, Sun 18.8.13, Afternoon
Translator: Ruth Fleishman
The attempt to find people who knew Basal Abu Naser from Qalandiya, whose trial had been reported about by Niza Aminov, didn't bear any fruit.
Here, at the refugee camp, no one really gets worked up from stories about detainees and military trails unless the victim is a relative. They are used to the nightly raids into their homes, to the arrests, the false accusations, to being recruited under pressure and at times even to the worst of all.
When I asked a friend about Basal he shrugged his shoulders and said "over here at the camp they make arrests all the time".
An ambulance from the occupied territories was detained was detained for about forty minutes at the vehicle checkpoint, until it finally passed.
On the other side two BP officers prepared a trap for the labourers who were on their way home. They tried locating and hunting down people who had pass in the morning in order to search for jobs in Jerusalem, or at the Palestinian call it "to feed their children", without the authorities permission.
By the fence surrounding the checkpoint complex stood a little fig seller: "ten shekels" for an over packed box of juicy figs. A child that doesn't know how to smile. His story has yet to float. Perhaps someday.
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 FleishmanNov-30-2025Qalandiya: Puddles and dirt after the rain
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