Qalandiya. where there once stood a house – destruction reigns
One week ago this pile of rubble and junk was still a home.
For years the man and woman saved every penny and invested in building the house that was, as they say, their dream.
So true, during Ramadan month, they like their neighbors received a demolition order and hired an attorney.
But what can a man and a woman and an attorney – all Palestinians – do when it’s the Israeli army and its orders?
They said that at 5 a.m. the emissaries of destruction came, blocked the access road and began working.
There was no resistance, no protest.
Where there once stood a house – destruction reigns. The ruin of hopes. Of life.
And one’s gaze is turned and concentrated on the white clothes hanger.
A banal object that symbolizes as it were a bit of normality in an abnormal environment.
The neighbors who received a demolition order are silent, afraid to attract attention, people say.
“And this is our life of late
Could be better
Could spell disaster
Good evening despair, good night hope
Who’s next, what’s next”
(Yehuda Poliker and Yaacov Gil’ad, Israeli songwriters and performers)
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Hizma village is tensely quiet. The quiet of uncertainty. Of wondering when “they” (the Israeli armed forces) will be back, who they will defame next, who they will arrest.
The last time was yesterday, Saturday night.
They came after midnight and invaded the home of the same family, taking over the same roof.
Hizma
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Hizma
A checkpoint at the north-eastern entrance to the Jerusalem area which was annexed in 1967, at Pisgat Zeev. The passage is allowed to bearers of blue IDs only. Open 24 hours a day.
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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 FleishmanMay-13-2025Qalandiya: Back-to-back procedure for transferring patients
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