Qalandiya: “We get no permits for anything"
Again, and still, the emptiness of the pedestrian crossing welcomes those coming.
Again, and still, the offices of the Civil Administration are locked and deserted.
-“We get no permits for anything, a person who has to update his ID because he got married cannot do so”, said a man who waited impatiently among dozens of others for 4 p.m. because then, around 4, or perhaps afterwards, the checkpoint would be opened.
And indeed, again and still, the checkpoint is opened for three hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. “If you don’t get back quickly, until 6 p.m., you won’t be able to get back home”, I was hurried and warned by friends.
Again, still, I am told about blocked villages, hundreds of arrests, a shortage of food, college students at Bir Zeit who cannot get to their classes.
What I didn’t know and now heard is that not only the pedestrian checkpoint is closed but that the vehicular checkpoint, as well, is closed to all traffic after 5 p.m. No one can enter or exit. Indeed, at ten minutes to five, all the gates were closed and policemen directed drivers wishing to enter Palestine to the military gate near A-Ram. Exiting Palestine is possible through Hizma Checkpoint which, as we know, exists and serves mainly settlers.
What else I didn’t know and was now told, is that for over a month now, the Israeli army closes off the Jab’a Checkpoint at 6 a.m. for three hours. Why? So that the Palestinians would not get to Adam Roundabout and not crowd colonist traffic on Road 60. The traffic jam thus created is endless, and reaches the outskirts of Ramallah.
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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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