Qalandiya, Wed 4.4.12, Morning
Translation: Judith Green
We arrived at 05:30 and there were already long lines at the 3 gates. Suddenly, the door of one of the turnstiles opened, and about 30 people pushed their way through. The rest of the turnstiles were still closed. 10 minutes later another turnstile opened, but the others remained closed. That seemed to be the system – no one in line ever knew which door of which gate would open. Ronny Perlman contacted the DCO a few times until she finally managed to speak with someone working there. She explained the situation at the gates and, a few minutes later, all 3 doors opened at once. Meanwhile, a lot of people had piled up at the Humanitarian Gate; people with permits for appointments in hospitals in Jerusalem, students and sick people. The Humanitarian Gate was supposed to open at 6:00, but, at 6:10 it was still closed. We spoke with a soldier who had just started his assignment at Qalandiya and was totally inexperienced concerning the gate procedures. He brought a policeman who was responsible for the area.
The policeman was the real face of the occupation. He obviously enjoyed his job and relished the power accorded to his authority. He screamed at everyone who was standing either at the turnstiles or at the Humanitarian Gate. He asked those who were standing at the Humanitarian Gate not to go so close to the "wall" (the iron fence), not to smoke, and not to push (despite the fact that the people – the elderly, sick, children, students – had already been standing there patiently for 45 minutes). After he finally ordered them to open the gate, everyone was pushed around by the pressure of the long waiting time and the desperate need to enter before the policeman would again order the gate to be closed. He yelled, "Slowly, slowly!" and stopped several people in order to demonstrate his authority over their movements. Because of the crowding, he decided to punish the rest of the people in line, and refused to open the door again for another 10 minutes.
Ronny and I tried to speak with him, but he continued to ignore us. The thing that bothered, worried and annoyed us was his smile and joking at the expense of the "rats in the cage".
We left when all the pressure and tension was over at about 8:00. About 1000 people passed through the checkpoint between the hours of 5 and 8, but these were horrible hours and the words "humanitarian" or "human rights" certainly had no place 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 FleishmanApr-26-2026Qalandiya. Things you see on the way
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