Qalandiya - three-quarters of an hour delay in opening the humanitarian gate
Back to Classic Qalandiya
Five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. but one of them (No. 3) closed ten minutes later. In contrast to the situation in previous weeks, lines already existed at 5:30 and grew increasingly longer as one of the checking stations remained closed until they reached half way through the erstwhile parking lot. At 6:10 checking station 5 stopped working (though by then No. 3 had reopened), and the lines continued to grow.
People began to gather by the Humanitarian Gate beginning at 6:00 and by 6:35 there were some 25 waiting there, including mothers and young couples with infants and toddlers. All in all we called the DCO line three times to ask whether the gate would be operated today and, if so, when the soldiers would arrive. Unfortunately, we fell upon an impatient soldier who told us that someone would come to open the gate but when we asked, “When?” answered, “When they come.” One of the regulars who passed through the gate told us that he too had called the DCO line (after waiting more than half an hour in front of the gate) and received the same answer. At 6:45 we tried to make contact with an officer responsible for the checkpoint or in the ranks of the DCO without success. Just before 7:00 when people asked us to again find out if and when the gate would be opened, we explained that the soldiers in charge the gate usually arrived between 6:15 and 6:30 if that they hadn’t arrived by 7:00 one could assume that the gate would not be operated that day. Even without hearing that assessment, people began to move over to the lines going through the cages. But seconds after they did so, at 7:00, a Civil Administration officer arrived, opened the gate, and let everyone (including those who now ran back from the lines into the cages) through at once. We didn’t even bother to ask the reason for the three-quarters of an hour delay in opening the gate. The message was clear: complete contempt for the people who are forced to pass through the checkpoint – and that’s hardly new.
At the same time, incidentally, checking station 3 closed again.
In the meanwhile, the soldier responsible for opening the turnstiles at the end of the three cages has been trying to direct the flow into the passageways leading into the checking stations (“sleeves”) so that the five lines would be more or less equal in length. Time after time he announced on the loudspeakers that checking station number 5 was open, and when that had no effect he announced time after time that stations 1,2,3,4,5 were open. (For unknown reasons, there is always a long line into the “sleeve” of checking station number 1; on the other hand, people tend to avoid station number 5, for it has a problematic record.) At first we were impressed by the soldier’s effort to improve the flow through the stations by means of his announcements and hand signals he made (just like a traffic cop) standing in and outside the Aquarium. But when this went on and on without results, his behavior began to appear compulsive. It left us feeling uncomfortable – for him and everyone else.
Just after 7:00 we joined one of the lines moving through the cages and it took us 35 minutes to exit the checking station.
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
-
