Two main headlines ran in the news on June 30. One read, “Tensions Peak in Egypt as Mass Protest Nears,” while the other reported, “Despite Pressure by Kerry, No Headway on Renewing Negotiations.” Several hours later, the second headline was replaced online by a more categorical one: “Kerry Failed: Left Israel Without Summit Declaration.” The first headline remained unchanged.

These headlines reminded me of an article I once published in Israeli daily Haaretz, inspired by the revolt against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (January 2011), which was spreading by means of the social media in Egypt. I asked, “Doesn’t the West Bank have Facebook?” I surmised that the reports on Al-Jazeera from the scene of rioting in Egypt would trigger thoughts of rebellion among unemployed Palestinians in the West Bank, whose numbers then constituted 16.5% of the workforce — as opposed to 9.7% in Egypt. I believed the day was near when thousands of Palestinian laborers, lining up in the early hours of the morning in cage-like facilities to cross into Israel and be granted a day’s work at Jewish construction sites, would take to the streets en masse. I predicted that they would bring about the ouster of “President” Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority (PA). I estimated that Palestinian students, like their friends in Tahrir Square, would not leave Al-Manara Square in Ramallah until they received the basic right reserved for every human being in a democratic society — the right to freedom.

I was wrong.

Two and a half years have passed since then; unemployment in the West Bank has only risen, workers continue to line up at dawn at the border crossings, students prepare for their year-end exams and US Secretary of State John Kerry went home empty-handed. Millions are demonstrating in Egypt against the Muslim Brotherhood, and in Gaza women cover their faces under orders of the Hamas “modesty patrols.” Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah announces his resignation — the second one to do so within two months. At the Quartet offices in Jerusalem, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s people are putting the final touches on a plan to funnel $4 billion to the Palestinian economy — this is the same ambitious plan that Kerry announced in his speech at the World Economic Forum conference held at Jordan’s Dead Sea at the end of May. No doubt, means will be found to pay the salaries of the 160,000 PA employees, especially the policemen, so they can shop for Ramadan [month of fasting due to start on July 9].