Amid economic pressures and political uncertainty in Palestine, a small personal altercation became a much larger episode requiring high-level political intervention to keep the local incident from turning into a national conflict. Such events are especially troubling in cases that expose religious differences and leave minority communities feeling vulnerable, as recently happened in Jifna, a predominantly Christian village of some 3,000 people north of Ramallah.

Hanan Rafidi, driving with her children in Ramallah on April 24, found herself in a traffic altercation and roadside incident involving a young man, Ayham Rizeq, who allegedly pushed Rafidi and verbally insulted her. Rafidi filed a complaint at the local police station that resulted in Rizeq's arrest at his home.

Efforts to convince Rafidi to drop the charges failed, so Rizeq remained in police custody. Rizeq’s father, Khalil Rizeq, heads the Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, which has strong ties to the dominant Fatah movement.

With Ayham detained, members of the Rizeq family rounded up friends from the nearby Amari refugee camp, many of whom were armed, and on April 26 traveled to Jifna, where Rafidi lives, and wrecked havoc. They destroyed property, shot weapons in the air and cursed at the people of the village, sometimes hurling religious and sectarian insults.