Qalandiya
In view of the blackout, suffocation, shortage of everything, and unlivable sanitation conditions, and the fact that two million children, women and men live imprisoned, it is hardly imaginable that people long to reach the Gaza Strip.
Yet those whose health is on the line and are recovering from surgery do long to get back home to their own family and especially to their own beds.
But that which is so natural for anyone is not at all obvious or simple when the it comes to Gazans. Regardless of the cardiac condition of a patient fresh out of surgery, or wounds not yet healed, or a woman barely able to walk on her own feet who has to be carried by strangers, in spite of all of them and the likes of them, and in spite of the physical and mental torment, the return trip to Gaza is long, exhausting and involves endless convolutions in the mazes of bureaucracy.
New things I learned about the new ‘system’:
Even though a week ago the DCO officer told me that the transport to Gaza leaves every day at 13:00, I saw it leaving at 16:45.
“No one sees us, even if we die no one will see us” said one woman. And a man, Maher was his name, told me he had come to the checkpoint at 10 a.m. and has been waiting ever since.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority that cooperates (perhaps in this case, the other way around) only allow patients to travel back to the Gaza Strip in this officially organized transport and with escort.
In the transit van there is room for ten plus the escort who sits by the driver. The escort receives the passengers’ IDs and transit permits from the soldiers, and calls roll, name after name, checking that the photo in the ID is that of the person who answers.
Every passenger pays the driver 70 shekels. I have no idea how much money goes to the transport company, owned by a Negev Bedouin family, how and from whom they got this job, nor do I have any idea what the two coordinating bodies, Israeli and Palestinian, consider their responsibility for whoever arrives after the transport has left or when the transit van is already full – the transport only leaves when that is the case.
I assume that on that day there were not enough passengers. Perhaps that is why departure was delayed until 16:45, perhaps this was the reason that Maher (and not only he) had to wait close to 7 hours. And in order to complete the sum of 700 shekels, perhaps, the driver suggested I join the trip. I agreed on condition that he gets me into Gaza itself. “That is impossible,” he said. “Only to Erez Crossing.” I passed.
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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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