Qalandiya, Sun 11.12.11, Afternoon

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Soldiers at checkpoints

Observers:

Roni Hammermann and Tamar Fleishman (reporting)

Dec-11-2011

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Afternoon

Seriously? Does this make us safer?

Translation: Ruth Fleishman

The Gate of Mercy or Palestinians have Patience in Abundance. Life they scarcely have.

An hour and twenty minutes is a lot of time when you are at the checkpoint and you advance only by twenty meters, given that it's not even the rush hour and most people are heading towards Palestine and not out of it.
After years of experience you know better than to wonder about that which is beyond you and which you will never understand. Only the soldier in the glassed post, who was driven out of his bubble by boredom, tried to explain: "It's in accordance with the orders… yes, the checkpoint commanders can see through their plasma screens everything that is going on both inside and outside… it's probably because the computers crashed…" The soldier also showed some compassion for the parents of an ill baby info-icon who kept coughing and suffocating from the cough, they were on their way to get treatment in a hospital and when hearing their cry he opened the bullet proofed window, clenched the fingers of his right hand together and signaled them: just a moment…
The concerned parents stood in front of the post trying to shield their son from the Qalandiya chill and waiting for the "Gate of Mercy" to open. From time to time the distressed father would shout out to the soldier, and he would display once again the same signal with his hand, as if to say: patience…

Palestinians have Patience in Abundance. Life they scarcely have.
After only half an hour the gate opened for them, but not before an officer made sure that the infant's parents were "Kosher" and presented no danger to the safety of the Israeli state.

"In spite of it all I was lucky":
The "in spite of it all" which A mentioned to us, is his daily queuing up in the lines of Qalandiya, when finishing his day at work in Ramallah and returning to his home in East Jerusalem a journey that takes three hours.
The "in spite of it all" is also the constant threat, expressed or hidden, each time when A has to renew his permit to stay in Israel under family reunification (-such a long name for such a malevolent procedure) and when A recites before the person who will verdict whether he will receive the rod or grace: "I'm clean…", he is told that according to the computer, as a child he threw a stone. The throwing of the stone stands for the original sin that is always before him. And once, due to his infant crime he was denied the permit and only a lawyer could annul this harsh sentence, for that time.
The "in spite of it all" is also the pain he feels for his son who is bullied by Jewish children at his tennis lessons: "He is an Arab".
But mostly, the "in spite of it all" is the uncertainty and the fragility what the future holds for him and his family.

And A told us: "in spite of it all I was lucky, since four years ago they discovered I had cancer in my stomach, because I have a permit, I got treatment at Augusta Victoria and not at the West Bank".

- A Kid's Toys:
"What have you got there?" the tens of people cramped at the metal bars heard the soldier say.
"A kid's toys", replied the interrogated person.
While grasping his son by his hand the man stood at the bullet proofed window, behind which sat the interrogator.
"Then open it so I can see!" said the soldier.
The man let go of his six year old son and the content of the bags was taken out according to her orders. There were neatly folded clothes as well as some toys in plastic wrappings.
"Spread it all over the floor!" screamed the soldier.
One by one the clothes and toys were placed on the filthy floor at the soldier's feet. The child, of whom the father let go, cramped himself to the wall, embraced a plastic rifle and looked straight into the lost eyes of his humiliated father standing in front of him.

-His time- Her time:
"I've been standing here for an hour…" complained a young man who reached the soldier's window, and she put forth before him a speech of reproof that was heard from one side of the checkpoint to the other: "You've been standing here for an hour? Really??? Do you know how long I've been here? Take a guess! Come on, guess! – Throw a number!- Got nothing to say! Then I'll tell you, I've been here for twelve hours! All day, all day, twelve hours! It's a little more than an hour, isn't it? Then that's it, no more complaints from you!"
The young man picked his belongings from the convey belt and made himself scares as the soldier finally said: "I need to pee!"

Location Description

Qalandiya Checkpoint

See all reports for this place

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)

Apr-17-2024

Tamar Fleishman

Qalandiya: New automated surveillance system

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