Qalandiya, Thu 21.5.09, Morning
Natanya G.
Atarot. 6.50. Only 3 cars in line.
Qalandiya. As I did not have a partner but had to be in the area I went to Qalandiya arriving at 7.00. There was no humanitarian line but all 5 checking booths were open. There were about 150 people in the shed but inside all 5 booths were packed with people. I would say that inside there were the same number in front of the checking booths,. The coffee vendor said it had been a god day. For once except for an occasional shout the loudspeakers were quiet.
I tried to check on how long people had to wait and at 7.15 first took two women with pink mandil who were already inside and saw that it took them 20 minutes to get through the first turnstile. I do not know how long they had waited in the shed. At 7.30 I asked a man in the shed to phone me and let me know how long it took for him to get through in all and he phoned later to say about 20 minutes (which was an improvement on the earlier hour) but that yesterday he had waited an hour. When I left at 8.15 all 5 booths were still open and there were 20-30 people waiting to go in.
At one stage a man in civvies came through with a soldier who I think was from the Matak (I forgot to ask). I went up to ask why there had been no humanitarian line and the soldier explained that they had had one until about 7 am and when they saw that everything was under control they had closed it. Even though the pedestrian lanes seemed to stream very steadily it still seems a pity as there were many small children in the line, some elderly people and also women with small children for whom this would have been a great help. I wondered at the gentleman in civvies but he introduced himself and said that he was Chaim from Ir Amim and knew many of the women from Machsom.
One small and rather funny vignette….I saw our coffee vendor running towards the cages and bringing someone his morning coffee on a tray. I asked him if he also provided room service or machsom service.
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 FleishmanApr-16-2025Qalandiya: summer fruit
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