Givat Zeev, Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 17.10.10, Afternoon
Qalandiya checkpoint:
The entrance to the checkpoint was full of dirt and neglect.
As costume in every terminal, "music" was playing in this one as well. It illustrated what was written on the shining sign welcoming those arriving and reads "Have a Nice Stay". Loud and grating voices came out of the speakers, they were incoherent, a mixture of Arabic and Hebrew, like a new language that neither those who spoke Hebrew nor the Arab speakers could make out.
At the everlasting traffic jam at the entrance to the checkpoint a new peddler boy was running about between the cars. It seems as though the minute a child like him learns to stand on his feet and just before he can stand for himself, he is sent to endanger his life on the busy and filthy road, so as to make a living for his family.
El Jib checkpoint:
A slow stream of people returning from a day's work. 
The checkpoint wasn't designed to regulate the passage from or into the State of Israel. Its very essence is to protect the wellbeing of the settlers of "Givat Ze'ev" and "Givon Ha'Hadasha", so that those building or reconstructing the settlements, those who are the historic owners of the land on which they are located, could pass there for the purpose of work alone. Only the Palestinian men and women whose names appear on the list, "the clean ones" according to the GSS, pass through those fences and gates- about three thousand each morning pass there, and then head back to their homes/prisons when evening falls.
"Each morning I arrive here at 5:00 and I never pass before 7:00"- said Maher, a resident of Old Beit Hanina (on the Palestinian side of the wall), as we drank our coffee with him at the improvised diner. As his sipped from his cup he told us that his brother, who is married to a woman with a blue ID from New Beit Hanina, isn't permitted to leave his house, he can't step outside without a special permit which is granted only for medical purposes and is valid for only a couple of days. This brother hasn't seen his parents or Maher ever since the construction of the wall had been completed, closing all the Palestinian towns surrounding east Jerusalem and turning them into enclaves.
During the first half hour of our stay the soldiers communicated with us through the PA system. The speaker ejected noises. Mostly bits of words. Very few actual words. They referred to us in second person singular: "You! Don't stand there!… You, ruhi!.. Photos are forbidden!…" and then they went on with: "Hayyyyyyy… Hooooo…", and after that they began to whistle and drum with their hands in rhythm. When we didn't abide we heard the person speaking saying: "What can I do? – they won't listen to me…" and when that didn't work they turned the siren.
Towards sun down one of them found the courage to step outside and approach us in the area enclosed by the checkpoint fence- he was a security guard from a privet firm and was escorted by two soldiers who bore on their backs a print of a serial number (what for?).
The security man ordered us to stop taking photos, to refrain from approaching the fence and also: stay away from the red (?) zone. He carried on and made what can be regarded as childish threats: "I'll call the Bp and you'll be taken under custody…"and: "a police man will come and arrest the two of you…"
They wouldn't allow us to pass through the checkpoint and head home. "You don't appear on the list" said a BP officer as he waved some folio papers before us.
Jaba checkpoint:
The soldiers at the checkpoint no longer try to send us away, but to have a chat with us. During the days that had passed since our last encounter, the soldiers had accumulated some questions, and once we parked our car some of them hurried towards us saying: "I have a question…"- they asked and talked and tried to understand. They also requested and received the card of the organization with the internet site: "To read what is written about us…"
During our conversation the soldier who had stayed to guard the area closed the checkpoint before the vehicles for a short while. His friends explained: "regulation: breaking the routine"
Jaba' (Lil)
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Jaba' (Lil) In fact, the Jaba checkpoint is east of the Qalandiya checkpoint. Its declared purpose is the prevention of Israeli citizens from entering Area A. A road checkpoint for vehicles, located on Road 65, borders the southern fence of Kfar Jaba, about three kilometers east of the Qalandiya checkpoint, on the road leading to the settlement of Adam on Road 60. Archaeological excavations within the village found the remains of a cloth house from the First Temple period. The events that led to the construction of the checkpoint are precisely here: on the day of the abduction of Gilad Shalit and before the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a 17-year-old man from one of the settlements was abducted by a Palestinian cell. His body was found several days later at the entrances to Ramallah. A military investigation revealed that his abductors had taken him along this route. The checkpoint was set up to prevent future kidnappings and to warn settlers from traveling to Ramallah and entering Area A (which is forbidden for Israelis). The checkpoint that operates around the clock. Usually only vehicles traveling in the direction of Ramallah are inspected. (November 2016): Every morning, when the settlers en masse travel to Jerusalem on Route 60 and every afternoon they return from Jerusalem on Route 60, the army initiates a traffic jam at the entrance to the Jaba checkpoint and stops the movement of Palestinians traveling toward Route 60. (February 2020): In the last two years the checkpoint has not always been manned. Sometimes the soldiers come and just stand, sometimes they come and stop and check those who enter the village, sometimes they patrol the alleys of the village, sometimes they fire stun grenades and gas and sometimes they invade houses and stop young people, say those passing through the Hazma checkpoint. (Updated February 2020)
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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 FleishmanFeb-27-2026Qalandiya: On the way to prayer
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Zif Junction
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Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
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