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4 checking points are closing .
The border police are amazed. "How did you get here?" and they said that this is the checkpoint of Bido and Ras Bido. We did not go into further because it was getting dark .
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Qalandiya, Wed 21.10.09, Afternoon
Observers: Chanah T. Daniella Y(reporting) Natanya (translating)
Qalandiya, Ras Bido (new)
15.20 The southern circle of Qalandiya is packed with cars going to the north even though there is no checking being done.
4 checking points are closing .
Sleeves 2,3, and 4 are working
A strong smell of urine in the shed.
The northern circle is packed. A special lane for the taxi vans. There is no possibility of shortening the lines at the circle.
The seller of corn stands close to the line of cars.
15.40 Burning tyres next to the wall of the road leading east. "This is because of what you do to us." A man says this very angry and walks off. We come close to the fire. 4 boys of about 10-12, moving fast burn 2-3 tyres. They go to and fro from the fire to the parking lot, grab a handful of decoration and run to feed the fire, to stand in the dense smoke and to throw some stones at cars without taking notice of the identity of the license plates. The taxi drivers try to calm them down. "The children are bored and do not have what to do. It is the problem of their parents. Not the intifada or Palestine." Luckily there is no reaction of the army to the bonfire, the tyres are change and plastic buckets used. The fire is put out.
We go through the cages fast. Daniella through the second sleeve and I through the third. All the lines are identical. There is no difference what colour the ID is.
I go quickly through and watch how once again the abuse at the checkpoint is continued. Next to the sealed window of sleeve number 2 a Palestinian asks for the details of the woman who passed before him. He said, "She stole my cellphone from the tray when she went through before me." The sleeve suddenly closed. Opens. The line is delayed. In the meantime a young mother with a baby asks to be allowed to pass without standing in line. "The baby is hungry and I can not breastfeed him at the checkpoint."
"An international checkpoint." At Ben Gurion airport telephones are also stolen at the checking area?' And there are places for a mother and child.
16.16 We go to Beit Iksa. We drive on 443 until we get to Offer. At the traffic light we turn left to Givat Ze'ev, Nebi Samuel and Ramot. Inside Givat Ze'ev, from the left we find a new permanent checkpoint (waiting for the next shift).
We get to the checkpoint of Beit Iksa and just before it we turn right in the direction of the village. The road twists downwards, afterwards there is a short ascent, One gets to the T junction. (This is Beit Iksa). We turn south and continue all the time on the twisting road. The direction is to the west, to Bido). Before Bido is a new and equipped checkpoint. Signs for taxis, a sentry tower round and high, the soldiers checked cars entering Israel in one lane. There are two turnstiles for pedestrians on the same side. Armoured areas for the soldiers. The roads are new and marked out. There is a caravan, empty, padded inside and outside with artificial grass. Its purpose is unclear.
The border police are amazed. "How did you get here?" and they said that this is the checkpoint of Bido and Ras Bido. We did not go into further because it was getting dark .
W'll come back .
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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 FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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