Dateline: Florentin, March 6, 9:00 a.m.

The occupied territories are teetering on the verge of a new uprising (Intifada, as it is referred to), due to a number of factors raning from an increase in internal repression within the PA, and Israel's ongoing military activities in Gaza. But. sitting in my Tel Aviv bureau-cum-hip café in the city's Florentin neighborhood, it feels like I'm a lot closer to Montreal than nearby Tulkarem, or my present home in Ramallah.

I arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday after Qalandia's checkpoint was closed off and on for two days, courtesy of Palestinian youth confronting the Israeli army with stones. The West Bank has been in a frenzy of activity since Israel's massive assault on Gaza that left more than 120 Palestinians dead.The outrage the assault produced injected Ramallah's atmosphere of exhausted frustration with a kinetic street energy.

While Ramallah and the rest of the West Bank saw two general strike days - where almost all shops closed, numerous street protests and checkpoint confrontations, Tel Aviv has mostly stayed in its Western political and cultural bubble. It's true that there have been a few protests and several arrests at the Ministry of Defense, and anti-siege critical mass bikes rides, however Israel's Gaza campaign have gone largely unnoticed in a city that's used to turning off the news when it get hot.

Although Tel Aviv is much closer to Gaza than Ramallah, Ramallah's connection to the Strip has brought it to the edge of a...

The political situation around Ramallah has become increasingly tense, with many Palestinians feeling increasingly disillusioned with the Palestinian Authority. In turn ,the PA has responded by escalating public visibility of its security forces and orchestrating intense crackdowns on dissent.

Over the past few weeks there has been a drastic increase in both PA security force and Israeli military raids and arrests around Palestine's so-called capital in waiting. Yet on Thursday, February 22nd, the authoritarian unpredictability of the PA took a further violent turn.

Just after 1:00AM, I was heading home from a friend's place in a less than pristine state of sobriety when I encountered four seemingly agitated PA police guards with AK 47s in front of the Canadian representative building. Ramallah's after-dark atmosphere had an increasing tension over the few days prior, with a heavy PA security presence - both Special Forces soldiers and riot police - massing downtown, despite empty streets due to bad weather.

As I approached the Canadian representative building, I heard the guards yelling at me in Arabic from 100 meters away. Stopping, taking off my headset, and raising my hands, the guards continued to yell and wave their guns. Grabbing his Kalashnikov and pulling back the safety while charging at me, an agitated cop motioned to the ground with his weapon, clutching the trigger. Naturally, I dropped to the floor.

It was at that point that I said, in English, "It's OK, I'm Canadian." The guard came to an immediate halt almost parallel to...

The political situation around Ramallah has become increasingly tense, with many Palestinians feeling increasingly disillusioned with the Palestinian Authority. In turn ,the PA has responded by escalating public visibility of its security forces and orchestrating intense crackdowns on dissent.

Over the past few weeks there has been a drastic increase in both PA security force and Israeli military raids and arrests around Palestine's so-called capital in waiting. Yet on Thursday, February 22nd, the authoritarian unpredictability of the PA took a further violent turn.

Just after 1:00AM, I was heading home from a friend's place in a less than pristine state of sobriety when I encountered four seemingly agitated PA police guards with AK 47s in front of the Canadian representative building. Ramallah's after-dark atmosphere had an increasing tension over the few days prior, with a heavy PA security presence - both Special Forces soldiers and riot police - massing downtown, despite empty streets due to bad weather.

As I approached the Canadian representative building, I heard the guards yelling at me in Arabic from 100 meters away. Stopping, taking off my headset, and raising my hands, the guards continued to yell and wave their guns. Grabbing his Kalashnikov and pulling back the safety while charging at me, an agitated cop motioned to the ground with his weapon, clutching the trigger. Naturally, I dropped to the floor.

It was at that point that I said, in English, "It's OK, I'm Canadian." The guard came to an immediate halt almost parallel to...