Grafted In Summary and Analysis

Palestine was Israel when Elias returned and had changed considerably. Palestinians were discriminated against in all endeavors, and many youth had turned to drugs, alcohol and crime. Fedayeen from refugee camps in neighboring countries were rather regularly coming across the border to attack Jewish settlements, and Israeli military forces were responding in kind. His once beloved village of Biram stood abandoned by Zionist soldiers and was now deserted, its buildings all in ruins and orchards virtually gone. As Elias came upon his old home, now just a shell, he noticed that his favorite fig tree still stood in the front yard. He was reminded how his father had grafted trees together to make this one and saw the analogy to God's grafting of Jews and Gentiles into his "chosen" ones. He knew God's plan was for all humans to...