Qalandiya, Sun 30.6.13, Morning
When we arrived at 05:00, there was already a long line. The women representing the World Council of Churches had been there since 04:30 and said the lines had been moving efficiently. The soldier inside the control booth was an Arab-speaker and gave all the instructions clearly over the loudspeaker. This soldier also opened the carousels at a reasonable speed and there were no complaints from the workers at that point. At around 05:20, the policeman who is in charge of the area arrived, entered the control booth, and spoke with the soldier. Afterward, the situation changed and the carousels opened lessoften and the lines grew. One of the workers asked us, “Aren’t we human beings? Why don’t they relate to us as human beings?”
At 06:20, the Humanitarian Gate was not yet open. The second soldier, whose duty it was to check permits and let people through at the Humanitarian Gate, entered the area very slowly, with coffee in hand. He did not open the gate until the security guard came, in another 10 minutes. In the meantime, the second soldier went into the control booth to finish his coffee. The people standing at the Humanitarian Gate saw this and asked us to help. Among those waiting for the gate to open were three tall, well-dressed men. One of the men explained that they had a court case on a complaint they made about appropriation of their land and they had to get to the court in time. The soldier looked at them and said, “It’s OK. The courts don’t open until 9:00.” The Humanitarian Gate finally opened at about 06:30.
On the same morning, two representatives of “Blue and White,” visited Kalandia to observe the process of passing through the checkpoint. They saw the incident with the three men who had court appearances, but did not interfere as we did. After 20 or 30 minutes, when the lines thinned out, the two representatives began to speak with the two soldiers on duty—as colleagues—not as observers who wanted to encourage fast and efficient passage.
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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