Jewish-Muslim wedding brings out bitter Israel tensions
Mahmud and Morel never imagined that on the happiest day of their lives, they would walk down the aisle to racist chants by extremists opposed to the marriage of a Muslim and a Jew.
Their Sunday night wedding near Tel Aviv was marred by the bitter shouting of several hundred young protesters who joined a rally called for by Lehava, an extremist rightwing Israeli group that fights against intermarriage.
Dressed in T-shirts bearing racist slogans and whipped up by weeks of war in Gaza, the demonstrators played cat and mouse with around 100 policemen trying to stop them from insulting and abusing the happy couple and their guests.
Supporters of the young couple handed out flowers and waved signs reading: "Love conquers all" and "Jew and Muslims refuse to be enemies."
"Death to Arabs!" yelled back the protestors who waved giant Israeli flags.
The ugly confrontation made headlines and was carried live on national television in microcosm of the tensions which have been tearing at the seams of Israeli society, particularly over the past two months.
The love story between this 26-year-old Israeli Romeo and his 23-year-old Juliet began five years ago when businessman Mahmud Mansur met Morel Malka.
He is Muslim, she is Jewish, but has since converted to Islam.
Although they knew their union would spark family tensions, they had no way of knowing that it would become a catalyst for nationwide tensions further exacerbated by weeks of deadly fighting in Gaza.
And they had no idea of the storm that would erupt after they posted details of their forthcoming nuptials on Facebook, triggering calls by Lehava for demonstrators to storm their wedding hall.
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