Qalandiya

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E. (British student at an Israeli university) guest, Ina Friedman (reporting)

Jun-28-2016

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Morning

Qalandiya

All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 a.m. and the lines already extended beyond the shed. By 6:00 they ran deep into the parking lot, and so it remained until close to 7:30. People on line and sitting on the benches informed us that the situation had been even worse on the previous day. We are able to offer them little comfort and only the advice that they should encourage their employers to complain about the situation at the checkpoint.

We are happy to report that the soldier responsible for the Humanitarian Gate (who often did not arrive before 6:30), turned up and opened the gate at 6:00 a.m. and thereafter each time a group of people gathered in front of it. (One should never question the efficacy of Hannah’s letter’s to the Civil Administration info-icon !)

At 5:30 we found a woman with a toddler already seated on the ground in front of the gate with a huge bag containing their belongings. We were able to understand that she came from Gaza, was taking the child to St. John’s Eye Hospital in East Jerusalem, and had a permit. Nevertheless, when the soldier arrived at 6:00, she turned the woman away and we next saw her seated on one of the benches. With the help of a Palestinian gentleman, who translated for us, we finally understood that the problem was the date on her permit: it was for 21 June, whereas the date on her summons to the hospital was 28 June (today). The woman said her daughter was scheduled to have surgery today, so we approached the soldier and asked if she could help, since the problem was solely bureaucratic. But the soldier explained that only the DCO could help, by issuing a permit for today, and the DCO would not open (we know) before 8:00. So we had to explain to the woman that there was no way we could help her before 8 a.m., and she understood what she must do at that time.

The "cages" have been renovated and the two outer ones have been widened (the central one seems to have remained the same width). One chooses to believe that this was done with good intentions in mind. The problem is that because the bars no longer extend to the entrance to the cages on the left and right, it becomes easier for people to jump the queue, which has long been a sore issue at the checkpoint and is often the source of tension that ends up in shouting, pushing, and climbing etc. (though the climbing, admittedly, has been eliminated by the new set-up, and perhaps that was the thinking behind it).

Just before 7:30 a teenager drove into the shed on a motor scooter, parked it at the farther back corner, and walked out back in the direction of Kafr Aqeb and the Qalandiya refugee camp. That event was so unusual in itself that we pointed it out to the policewoman on the other (“Israeli”) side of the bars. She looked up the owner, via the license plate, and said it was okay because the owner is 51 years old. Although that seemed to us a non sequitur, we did not pursue the issue with her. She is, after all, the professional in such matters …

At 7:30 the lines still extended out beyond the shed when we joined the middle one. It took us 20 or so minutes to reach the checking window, and since there a problem with E.’s passport (it was a new one, whereas the visa to enter Israel was in the previous, stolen, passport) we were sent to stand on another line, where the computer would be capable of checking the history of his entry to the country and thus allowing him through. All in all, we left at 8:15. E. said that the morning was a truly an unsettling experience for him.

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)

Apr-5-2024

Tamar Fleishman

Qalandiya: The men who were refused passage, return

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