Qalandiya, Tue 24.1.12, Morning
trans. Judith Green
6:00
This morning the biting wind and freezing cold became the ordinary chill of winter.
Long and quiet lines al the way to the parking lot. At this hour, dozens of people keep coming, on their way to work. Soon the students will also arrive. Is this going to go on, unchanging, forever?
The Ecumenical volunteer tells us that one lane was closed for a short time, immediately causing a delay in the process, and the line increased and seems completely unbearable. But everyone is quiet and experienced, recognizing a more brutal hand controlling things today at the checkpoint. In a few minutes, the officer from the DCO arrives and then a police officer as well. The Humanitarian gate will be opened from now on, every few minutes, and hundreds of people will pass through it as though everything is normal. And maybe we are mistaken, and they are actually on their way to the train (and maybe Israeli Railroads is actually working the checkpoints?) After the difficult morning hour, everyone goes forward and there is a feeling of common relief surrounds the checkpoint and the various people waiting there – today, there is a chance of arriving in time and have a transient feeling of being in a different country.
Children – for almost an hour, between 6:15-7:10 – 90 children went through the checkpoint. Mostly teenagers, some of them elementary school children, and a few small children with their parents. When the Humanitarian gate is open in a regular fashion, the feeling is different, everyone is relaxed and pleasant and greets each other with "shalom".
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 FleishmanJul-21-2026Qalandiya. Conversation in the shadow of the wall
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