Qalandiya, Thu 30.4.09, Afternoon
From 2:00 till 5:30 PM
Because of our guest we decided to show the new road for Palestiniansunderneath Road 443 and the fenced-in house in Giv'on. In Nebi Samuel welooked at the house of the settler and talked to the owner of the grocery store who is becoming increasingly bitter, since now since the wall has beencompleted underneath the hill he cannot even walk down to his wife and family in Bir Naballa, but has to travel via Beit Iksa and the new road – a long and expensive trip. He told us to report on an incident where a donkey had been arrested for being illegally near the Ramot CP. He said the soldiers had probably kidnapped the donkey, but it can only be eleased next Wednesday if three bags of food are delivered and a paper signed to the effect that the donkey will never cross again illegally into Israel.
The Givat Zeev CP has now become a full-fledged terminal. We were approached by a civilian guard who told us to move, but when we asked for his commander an older Druze Border Policeman came to tell us that very soon this CP will also be albe to accommodate vehicles – the special facilities for checking cars have already been installed. There was a major traffic jam near the roundabout before Qalandiya pastAtarot. We had difficulty getting into the parking lot. Apparently after the closure (because of Independence Day) and it being a Thursday when students and workers go home for the weekend we were told that from the North there was a line of four kilometers probably blocking ongoing traffic out of Jerusalem. One driver told us that it had taken him more than an hour to get to the roundabout from Beit Hanina. We entered the terminal and on the way back talked to some people who were all bitter re the new regulations where people will be checked also on their way back from work into the territories. One woman said that because the line of the cars was so long,they had gotten out of the bus and walked three or four kilometers with their baby in order to get faster to the CP. They had received a permit tovisit Sakhnin for the first time in almost ten years and were eager to catch the last bus from the Central Bus station in West Jerusalem. The shoving and pushing were bad and the turnstile occasionally stopped for no apparent reason. We watched the cars trying to inch their way through the CP where they were not checked at all, but could not drive on because of the congestion on the northern side. The papers of each and every car entering from the direction of Ramalla were checked meticulously and all trunks had to be opened. The soldiers appeared unmoved by the four km. long line and moved us away to a spot from where it was difficult to observe properly.We managed to leave by driving in the opposite direction of the line of cars and wondered how much longer the drivers would have to wait in this endless queue.
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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