Qalandiya, Wed 15.9.10, Afternoon
16:00 At the parking lot in the southern section traffic is still moving.
Sleeves 1, 3, and 4 are operating and the cage is empty.
Three hugs fans have been installed to keep the crowds of people in the cages cool, but today there is no need for them. The fences surrounding the guard booth protecting the cages already reach to the sky. There are layers and layers of protection surrounding soldiers who do nothing but press the open and close buttons.
The red shed is filthy and several of the benches are missing and only their legs remain. Since Ramadan the northern lot is clean and orderly.
There is a waiting line for people entering Jerusalem at 16:00 and people have to wait about a half hour. ("That's already good. Before it used to be an hour and a half."
A Palestinian ambulance makes its way through the area with its siren wailing.
A man from Ramallah who has a green ID card His wife lives on the Mount of Olives and has a blue ID card. How do they meet? She is free to visit him in Ramallah, but he needs a permit to see her that is given occasionally.
We returned through sleeve number 1. A young woman in front of us is well-dressed and carrying a lot of shopping bags. She has come to the checkpoint one day before her permit and is told, "Go home and come back tomorrow!" Why not, "I'm sorry madam, but you've come one day early and I can't let you through. Please come back tomorrow. I’m sorry about the mix-up." Tomorrow she will no longer be dangerous?
The woman relents and leaves.
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 FleishmanJun-8-2025Qalandiya: Emptiness in public space
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