Qalandiya checkpoint: A Quiet, Fluid Morning

We arrived at 5:45, parked on the southern (“Israeli”) side of the checkpoint on one of the roads leading into the Atarot Industrial Zone, and crossed over the bridge to the northern (“Palestinian”) side of the checkpoint.* This walk alone took a quarter of an hour. (We did not park on the northern side of the checkpoint, as usual, in order to avoid the traffic jam on the road to the Hizmeh checkpoint on our way home. Instead we got stuck in a huge traffic jam on Route 443 at the end of shift.)

After a brief visit with the begele seller, whom we had not seen in a long while, we placed ourselves at the foot of the steps leading up to the building that houses the pedestrian checkpoint. Through the shift we witnessed a steady flow of people into the checkpoint through the three entrances. At no point did a line form. Other than people who wished us a good morning as they passed, only one person approached us for help, in this case regarding an entry permit for his adult son, who has been blacklisted without explanation. We gave him a slip with the information on how to contact Sylvia’s team and he expressed his appreciation.

When the flow of people slowed down, at 7:10 we passed through the security check quickly and returned to our cars without incident.

One of us has a colleague who lives in Kafr Aqeb (north of the checkpoint), passes through it daily on his way to work, and reports that the checkpoint operates smoothly and that he has not incurred any difficulty in quite a while. We came away with the same impression this morning.

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*The Qalandia checkpoint is situated in East Jerusalem, which was annexed to Israel in June 1967. Therefore the terms “Israeli” and “Palestinian” as used here relate only to the matter of the Palestinians’ freedom of movement on each side of the checkpoint