MIFTAH.ORG--Qalandia Checkpoint becomes the “Atarot International Crossing”

Qalandia Checkpoint becomes the “Atarot International Crossing”
By MIFTAH
April 11, 2006

Background:

The Qalandia Checkpoint, located north of Jerusalem and 3 kilometers south of Ramallah, was set up by the Israeli army in the latter part of 2000 as part of then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s crackdown on the Palestinians following the outbreak of the Aqsa Intifada on September 29, 2000. Like most other checkpoints in the West Bank, the Qalandia checkpoint started out as a makeshift barrier with no real hindrances for Palestinians crossing between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

However, throughout the past 5 years, Qalandia checkpoint has been gradually turned into a major crossing, most significantly cutting off the Palestinian Jerusalem suburbs of Kufr Aqab, Samiramis and Qalandia from the rest of the city and isolating Ramallah by virtually closing off all other entrances.

Qalandia is part of a web of checkpoints set up by the Israeli army throughout the Aqsa Intifada. Although the number of checkpoints may vary slightly due to the setting up of flying checkpoints from time to time, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, there are 392 Israeli military checkpoints set up between Palestinian areas throughout the West Bank.

Gradually, the Qalandia checkpoint has become the major crossing point between Ramallah and Jerusalem. In its transitional stage, Palestinian ID holders were able to pass through Qalandia to Ramallah unhindered and also out of Ramallah into the northern Jerusalem areas such as Al Ram and Dahiet Al Barid. As of April 4, however, this is no longer the case.

Qalandia Today:

On April 4, Israeli military sources announced that the Qalandia checkpoint had been officially transformed into the Atarot Crossing between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Effectively, this means that the crossing is only to be used by Jerusalem ID holders, foreigners and Palestinians with permits to enter Israel. Palestinian residents who previously used Qalandia to travel between Ramallah and Al Ram or the northern villages of Bir Nabala, Al Jdeira and Al Jib have now been banned from using this route and travel a circuitous route circumventing Qalandia called the Kassara Road.

Although work has not been completed on the Apartheid Wall surrounding the checkpoint – Israeli army sources have said eventually the Apartheid Wall would close up the current gap at Dahiet Al Barid, the checkpoint today looks more and more like an international border crossing.

The checkpoint is equipped with a large “rest area” with benches and water fountains. Upon exiting Ramallah, a pedestrian traveler must pass through the four electronic turnstiles complete with surveillance cameras, conveyer belts for personal belongings and glassed-in Israeli soldiers who meticulously monitor every passing person. There are five lines complete with these turnstiles, four for men and one for women and children. Rooms for “further inspection” are set up along the checkpoint for any “suspicious” individual. Finally, a traveler exits the last turnstile, with a large sign overhead reading, “To Jerusalem.”

Traffic lights have also been installed at the checkpoint for the three lanes set up for motorists. However, if the driver is carrying any passengers, they are forced to get down and walk through the checkpoint while the driver is thoroughly inspected by Israeli soldiers, person and vehicle alike. After crossing, the passengers may rejoin the driver and continue on the road to Jerusalem.

Taxis to Jerusalem are now situated on the other side of the Apartheid Wall. Whereas, prior to April 4, taxis were available to Al Ram, Dahiet Al Barid and the northern village of Bir Nabala, these areas will soon no longer be accessible through Qalandia after the Apartheid wall in that area is completed, which Israeli army sources say will within in the next week.

Ramifications

The new arrangements at Qalandia have already had grave consequences on Palestinians in the area. The checkpoint cuts off the Jerusalem suburbs of Kufr Aqab, Samiramis and Qalandia refugee camp from the city even though their residents carry Jerusalem ID’s and pay municipal taxes. They are forced to cross the checkpoint daily to reach their schools, workplaces and hospitals in the city.

Furthermore, when the Wall is completed in Dahiet Al Barid, its residents, many of them Jerusalem ID holders, will be forced to travel through the Qalandia checkpoint and via Atarot to reach Jerusalem instead of the current 10-minute commute into the city.

As for West Bank ID holders, they are completely banned from using Qalandia except if they obtain a permit to enter Israel. For years, the lives of residents of this area – Ramallah, Qalandia, Al Ram and Dahiet Al Barid – have been intertwined due to work, school and family ties. Today, due to the checkpoint and the Wall down the main road, families are separated from each other, people cannot reach their workplaces and children cannot reach their schools.

In addition, such measures are in blatant contravention with international law. In July 2004, the International Court of Justice passed an advisory ruling stipulating that the Wall being built in the West Bank was illegal and should be dismantled. According to international law, an occupying power is required to administer the territory it controls as far as possible without making far-reaching changes to the existing order, while at the same time ensuring the protection of the fundamental rights of the inhabitants of the occupied territory. Thus, measures of control or security must be "necessary as a result of the war." (Article 27, Fourth Geneva Convention) Article 55 of the Hague Regulations forbids the occupying state from changing the character and nature of state property, except for security needs and for the benefit of the local population. The Apartheid Wall, and hence the checkpoints that endorse its existence, are in flagrant contravention of these conventions. According to an Amnesty International 2004 report, “In its current location the fence/wall causes extreme hardship to a large number of Palestinians. The sections of the fence/wall which have been or are being built within the West Bank cannot be considered a necessary or proportionate security measure. Neither does it benefit the local Palestinian population.”

MIFTAH’s Position

We condemn the current arrangements at the Qalandia checkpoint, which are racist and apartheid-like measures aimed at isolating Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and severing Palestinians from their neighboring communities. We stress that the Qalandia checkpoint and all military checkpoints in the West Bank serve Israel’s interests in separating Palestinians from their own communities, workplaces, schools, families and medical facilities and reinforcing the mentality of ‘conquer and divide.’ Such measures are in contravention with international law and Palestinian-Israeli agreements such as the Roadmap to Peace, which stipulate that no steps be taken from either side that may preempt any final solution.
We call on the international community, namely the United States and European Union, to intervene to halt these racist measures against the Palestinians, which prevent them from living a normal and peaceful life.
We stress that the checkpoints and the Apartheid Wall are major barriers to peace and will in no way contribute to an environment consistent with a peaceful solution. Therefore, we call on the Israeli government to reconsider its strategy of cantonization, which it is implementing in the West Bank, in order to find a true and just solution to the conflict.
In spite of the oppressive measures being brought against the Palestinians, we remain loyal to our commitment to peace and to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. We must, however, stress that such measures, namely the Wall and checkpoints such as Qalandia, undermine any possibility for a viable Palestinian state. Therefore, we condemn any facts being imposed on the ground that precondition any final arrangement and call on Israel to reverse these measures in the hope that a just and lasting peace could eventually be reached.