Qalandia

Kalandia, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the Ottoman census of 1596, the village, called Qalandiya, was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Al-Quds which was under the administration of the liwa ("district") of Al-Quds. The village had a population of 15 households, all Muslim, and paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley, olives, beehives and/or goats, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 3,900 akçe.[13]

In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village in the Jerusalem District.[14][15]

In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, which he described as small hamlet consisting of a few houses with fig plantations around them,[16] while an Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed 16 houses and a population of 50, though the population count included only the men.[17][18]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as a "small village on a swell, surrounded by olives, with quarries to the west."[19]

In 1896 the population of Kalandije was estimated to be about 150 persons.[20]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qalandieh (Qalandia) had a population of 144, of which 122 Muslims and 22 Jews.[21] This had decreased in the 1931 census when Qalandiya had an all-Muslim population of 120, in 25 houses.[22]

In the 1945 survey, Kalandia had a population of 190 Muslims,[23] and a land area of 3,940 dunams.[24] 427 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,202 for cereals,[25] while six dunams were built-up.[26]

Until 1927, Kalandia was the only airport in Mandatory Palestine, although there were several military airfields. Kalandia was used for prominent guests bound for Jerusalem.[27] It opened for regular flights in 1936.[28] After the Six-Day War, it was renamed Atarot Airport by Israel, but closed down due to disturbances related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and because international companies refused to land there.[29] Israel confiscated 639 dunums from Kalandia village in order to establish a military base at the former airport.[30]

During the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, in early January 1948, the residents of Kalandia evacuated the village and moved to Ramallah, leaving a few young men to protect the property and make sure mines were not planted on the way leading to the village and the nearby mine.[31] The villagers returned to the village and after the news of the Deir Yassin massacre arrived the women, the children and most of the men were evacuated again and the village became a post of the Arab Liberation Army[32] In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kalandia came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

The Qalandia refugee camp was established in 1949 by the Red Cross[33] on land leased from Jordan. It covers 353 dunums (0.353 km²; 35.3 ha) as of 2006[34] and has a population of 10,024[35] with 935 structures divided into 8 blocks.[34] Israeli authorities consider it part of Greater Jerusalem, and it remains under their control.[36]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Kalandia has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 2% of Qalandiya’s land was classified as Area B, while the remaining 98% is Area C.[30] Israel has confiscated 574 dunams of land from Qalandiya in order to construct the Israeli industrial settlement Atarot and 639 dunams for the Israeli Qalandiya military base.[30] 1,940 dunums of the village, 59.3% of the village’s total area is isolated behind the Israeli West Bank barrier.[37]

The Qalandia checkpoint is the main checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem, and is known for frequent demonstrations against the occupation.[38]

The Israeli 2013 Qalandia raid led to clashes with local residents, leaving three of Qalandia's inhabitants dead and several critically wounded.[39]