The Land of Oil and Vinegar

Israel, a country born of the ravages of intolerance and persecution, has increasingly practiced its own brand of both by extremists who seem to act with impunity. The burning of mosques and desecration of holy places of other faiths are disturbing signs of a radicalization of religious and nationalistic factions. The latest in a series of incidents of vandalism has occurred at a Christian monastery where, among other things, they spray-painted "Jesus is a monkey." Although the government has condemned all those attacks, nothing much has come of it, which calls into question the will to fight against them.

The persecuted have become the persecutors.

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