On this St. Patrick's Day, I'm reminded of a telling incident a Canadian working in Israel mentioned to me last week in Jerusalem:

There was this Irish guy working for UNRWA in the West Bank. He gets out of one of the armored vehicles in a convoy and steps gingerly onto the street. It's St. Patrick's Day, so naturally, one of us inquires as to why he isn't wearing green.

"Er, it might be misconstrued," he answered

Political correctness takes on a lethal seriousness in some parts of the world.