Qalandiya, Tue 8.5.12, Morning

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Ina F., Avital T. (reporting)

May-8-2012

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Morning

Translation: Judith Green

6:00

Long and quiet lines move forward quickly. However, next to the Humanitarian Gate a lot of people are gathering and it will be quite a while until the man from the DCO arrives, a sargeant in this case, and allows the people through. Next to the fence, stands a small delegation of observers from the British Consulate. They ask a lot of questions and show a surprising expertise in checkpoint matters.It is not the first time that Ina has met the representative of the Consulate in Kalandia. Is there any connection between their presence and the relatively fast progress of the regular line? If so, would that they could come every day!

However, the Humanitarian line, where is it going? This is the process: In order to protect the women from unbearable crowding in the regular lines, which are enclosed by wire fences on both sides with no extra space, the so-called "Humanitarian gates info-icon " were opened, after repeated requests, through which women are allowed to pass, also hospital patients, school children, the elderly, teachers and doctors. They are led from this gate to a special lane, no. 5; however, this lane is accessible to everyone, and those going through the Humanitarian gate can also go into any of the other lanes. As is typical of security measures, this gate was also started in an ad hoc and temporary way. We were there. After a period of time, in order to prevent the possibility of any outbreaks in this very area, the installation developed until now the process is so controlled that the passage in the regular line looks comparatively like child's play!

In the regular line, the condition for opening the gate is a woman soldier who presses on the button for opening the turnstile. At the Humanitarian gate, the condition for opening the gate is the presence of a DCO officer (and recently, a first sargeant), and a guard.

The hours: usually, the gate opens at 6 AM and a representative of the DCO stays there until 7:30-8:00. Sometimes, there is no one who is qualified and thus everyone waits. and waits. The opening of the gate does not depend upon the stamina of the elderly and the sick, but rather on the pressure on the lanes, on the good will of everyone and various other circumstances which cause us to call everyone when elderly and sick people arrive and can hardly stand up.

The process - they allow the people waiting to stand in groups, randomly check their IDs in order to prevent "regular" men from passing through, and then everyone enters the inner courtyard, totally enclosed by high fences. Also there, they wait. Documents are briefly checked and, when the 5th lane is sufficiently empty, they allow the women, children, elderly and sick to pass through another gate and run to the lane.

Even the police, the DCO and the guards are not able to save the Humanitarian line from itself and from the harsh and inhuman procedures. The pushing and crowding and the indifference of those responsible create unbearable suffering every day.

Location Description

Qalandiya Checkpoint

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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)

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