Qalandiya, Tue 4.12.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
…How does it feel to be a state?…
…We’re a state like a 16 year old boy who’s just received an ID card. He doesn’t know how to do anything. We have nothing to do with politics. Our state [our policy] is “bread and work”…
Qalandiya – 06:00
The vehicle checkpoint is very crowded, horns blowing and people yelling everywhere.
It looks as if the situation under the canopy is relatively good today. 200 laborers wait on the regular line. Ten women and elderly men wait on the humanitarian line. Five inspection lanes are open with about 50 people.
A new group of ecumenical volunteers arrived last week to replace those who left; the new volunteer tells us that last Thursday the checkpoint was almost empty. Perhaps people took a holiday in advance of the statehood declaration.
No line at the humanitarian gate. It’s too early for the women and schoolchildren.
Qalandiya – 06:30
During the past half hour 260 people entered inspection, 50 of them through the humanitarian gate.
The crossing goes quickly today. Everyone who waited on the regular line when we arrived entered inspection in 20 minutes. 100 people who just arrived wait on the regular line. No line at the humanitarian gate. Whoever arrives crosses in a few minutes.
We asked those waiting why, in their opinion, there’s no congestion today. They reply that there’s no special reason. “Maybe everyone came early in the morning?”
The soldier also gave us the same answer: “More people came early and went through quickly.”
Qalandiya – 07:00
During the past half hour 360 people entered inspection, 160 of them through the humanitarian gate.
70 people who just arrived, among them women and children, wait on the regular line. No one waits on the humanitarian line.
The vehicle checkpoint is still very congested. The sound of beeping horns fills the air; the drivers seem very edgy this morning.
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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