The point of bringing up the story is that to a visitor Israel appears to be run by something equivalent of the Taliban. Perhaps we can call it oppression by a religious majority. And, that's something I fear in the US as well.

My point about India you have chosen to misunderstand. In terms of population, India is the second largest Muslim country. A secular democracy with Muslims is possible. I'll grant you that the many who passionately did not want to be in a minority resettled during the partition of India and Pakistan. Kashmir is the legacy of partition approaches. You would choose not to learn from that conflict.

Personally, I don't care where someone was born. Save that for someone else. I was born in Eastern Europe, a WW-II refuge, and am a naturalized American. One swears to defend the US and the Constitution of the US to become a citizen something natural citizens do only if they join the military. If called, I would serve with no hesitation. This is my country and I have no divided loyalties. While admitting faults and misdeeds of the US, I am proud to be an American.

As far as the Arab minority in Israel goes, I understand them to be treated, at best, as second class citizens. I bet, in your whole life, unsolicited (if then), you ever once smiled and said "Good Morning!" to an Arab Israeli. Tell me I'm wrong, please.

Agreed that there are Arabs that want to reclaim Israel. That's a dead cause and it won't happen. You do have to resolve the "right of return" issue with these. Maybe buy them off somehow. Now, tell me there no Israelis that want to reclaim all the Biblical Israeli lands. In my view, both these groups come from the same mold.

Christmas Day in the US is more of a commercial holiday. It is not overly coercive to have a day off. But, it would please me if it were replaced by a floating personal choice day off. Taking a day off for a Jewish holiday has not been a problem to anyone I've known at school or work. In my experience, teachers in fact often did not start new material on such days.