There have been many moments over the last few years where I have been envious of our martyrs. Where I imagined myself among them, standing as lions against those invading our land, meeting death with my face forward. That envy is easy from abroad, easy from Ann Arbor, easy from a distance where martyrdom is sacred and abstract and belongs only to others. But Monday night the Knesset voted to make hanging the default punishment for Palestinians convicted in its military courts, and for the first time martyrdom stopped being a concept. I am a Palestinian man over sixteen who has published, spoken, and written against Israel in every forum available to me. The next time I go home, I could be pulled from a checkpoint, held without charge, tried without a jury, convicted on a confession I did not give in a language I do not read, and hanged before the sun sets twice. For the first time, I am afraid to go to Palestine.