The West Bank After Tel: a line in the sand has been crossed

Ten days ago, I was walking into a meeting to discuss the International Fund led by the UK, Canada and Australia, organised by ALLMEP, the (Alliance for Middle East Peace). Just before it started, a friend texted me: “what had happened in your town, Tel?”

I didn't see his next message until the meeting ended. Four young men were killed in my town on what was supposed to be another quiet Friday morning. He listed their names. I knew all four. We went to the same school and I played football with two of them.

A settler and a soldier were killed too.

Just a week before, the settlers from a nearby settlement attacked my town and set a house on fire. The woman and the children escaped just in time. Men in the town went to defend their houses when they saw the settlers approaching their neighbourhood.

There have been more dramatic events than this one. But something about it shifted the public feeling among Palestinians in a way I haven't felt before. It’s common now to hear the following: what came before Tel is not the same as what came after.

We should all be ready for a new reality. On your next visit to the West Bank, don't be surprised if you see Israeli military jeeps patrolling Palestinian cities and no stones thrown back. There will be resistance, but this time with different tools, and I have no idea what they would be.

For a month now, everyone has been struggling to get fuel. I take taxis to my meetings with the Rozana organisation these days if I go outside Ramallah city, because I don't know if I'll get another chance to fill my car. My brother waited from morning until evening yesterday just to refill his car. If he hadn't, he couldn't have gone to work. No work, no food on the table.