Qalandiya, Sun 21.10.12, Morning
5.10am
When we came there was a reasonable line and a sense that at the 5 checking booths the lines are not moving and thus it took 45 minutes to go through. It became 1hour 40 minutes once there were many people and it seemed that the snail pace became even slower. We made phone calls – at the MP Qalandiya headquarters they told us they are not willing to talk to us and the DCO headquarters told us the officer is on the way.
By then, a couple of minutes past 6, the line became chaotic and the crowd became more and more angry. So did we. Every now and then a policewoman would announce in Arabic that all the 5 lines/checking points are opened as if the people could not see that although it is true but only about 3 people get checked in 10 minutes. The MP policeman in the box, a very friendly and really helpful and a rare case of a person who opens the door and looks at us and talks to us – but even he was trying to explain away a fact that was very obvious – the soldiers in the windows inside the checking points were extremely slow this morning. When the DCO soldier told us that the checkpoint is open 24 hours and so people can come earlier, I felt that this Kafkaesque situation is one of the most frustrating experiences we have at the checkpoints when trying to solve a humanitarian issue at the spot – the soldier/officer and I are standing together looking at the same gate and both see something else. Any DCO officer KNOWS that work permits are from 5am till 7pm, so of what relevance is it to tell the Palestinian that Qalandiya is open 24 hrs!
And thus we were not surprised when we were leaving through the vehicle checkpoint that the soldiers said both – they knew about MachsomWatch and also that Israelis are not allowed to travel to area A and so they have to detain us and make inquiries. It did not take long and the result of their inquiry was that we may continue.
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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