Few countries are as tolerant of gays as the Jewish state

[King_David]

This weekend, the French newspaper Le Monde headlined a full page story: "Being gay in Israel: a daily struggle." On closer inspection, it turns out that the exact quote from the interviewed activist was: "Being gay in Jerusalem is an everyday struggle." Beyond this manipulation of the headline, the deadly attack at the end of July on the Jerusalem gay pride parade raises legitimate questions.

I was in the procession of the gay pride, with an i24news microphone in hand, when 16-year-old Shira Banki was stabbed to death, almost right before my eyes, by a Jewish terrorist. My cameraman and I were among the first to film the unfolding drama. The pictures of the injured and the blood on the ground, according to some, shattered the image of an Israel tolerant of the LGBT community. An image that, as claimed by Le Monde, was actually designed for marketing purposes to avoid talking about the plight of the Palestinians.

Let us assume that this is, in fact, official Israeli strategy: "pink washing" - focusing on gays so as to avoid discussion of Palestinians. If this is the case, then all of Israel's communications experts had better change careers because just type the word "Israel" in any search engine and you will realize that what dominates media coverage is, of course, the armed conflict with the Palestinians.

However, the municipality of Tel Aviv highlights openly gay life in the city. And the reason is simple: gay tourism generates revenue. According to a deputy mayor who told me this in confidence a year ago, gay tourists are those who spend the most money. Better yet: they are loyal, returning year after year, accompanied by their friends who are also looking for nightlife and restaurants at which to spend their savings. So this has nothing to do with the "pink washing" denounced by pro-Palestinian activists from the BDS movement. They can rest assured that the Palestinian question is always asked, regardless of the number of gay events organized in Tel Aviv. Especially since many gay tourists also visit the Palestinian cities of the West Bank …




http://www.i24news.tv/en/opinion/84174-150901-is-being-gay-in-israel-really-a-nightmare

[King_David]

1. Rainbow Flag Mural on West Bank Fence Sparks Palestinian Debate on Gay Rights

Khaled Jarrar says his art was meant as a reminder that Palestinians live under Israeli occupation. But protesters perceived the mural as support for homosexuality, a taboo subject in Palestinian society, and whitewashed it.

A Palestinian artist whose mural of a rainbow flag on Israel's West Bank separation barrier was whitewashed by anti-gay protesters says his work sparked a rare debate among Palestinians about gay rights.

Khaled Jarrar said Wednesday that he received hundreds of Facebook messages -- some threatening but others supportive or curious -- since he painted the flag on six barrier cement slabs Monday.

Jarrar, 39, says his art was meant as a reminder that Palestinians live under Israeli occupation, at a time when gay rights are in the news after the U.S. allowed same-sex weddings. But protesters perceived the mural as support for homosexuality, a taboo subject in Palestinian society, and whitewashed it.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.663942


Whitewashed it , in Israel they Pinkwash LOL

[King_David]

2. At LGBT Memorial Service, Orthodox Add To The Rainbow

Read more at http://www.thejewishweek.com/news

[King_David]

3. Haredi grassroots group pays solidarity visit to Tel Aviv gay center

(JTA) — A handful of haredi Orthodox men visited Tel Aviv’s Gay Center to express solidarity following the deadly stabbing at Jerusalem’s gay pride parade.

The delegation of haredim, who came together and organized the visit as part of a grassroots initiative, arrived at the center at Gan Meir on Wednesday, Haaretz reported Friday.

“I belong to a minority group that suffers from exclusion and [the majority’s] ignorance, just like the gay community,” one of the haredi visitors, who were not named, was quoted as saying.

The delegation rejected the acts of Yishai Schlissel, the haredi man who on July 30 inflicted fatal wounds on Shira Banki, 16, and wounded five others. One participant called Schlissel a lunatic whose actions are resented among haredi Jews.

http://www.jta.org/2015/08/07/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/haredi-grassroots-group-pays-solidarity-visit-to-tel-aviv-gay-center

[shenmue]

6. ...

[King_David]

7. Agree

[guillaumeb]

4. From the Le Monde articel that you reference:

First:

"Mais ce qui choque le plus Tom Canning, c’est le sentiment que la parole s’est libérée depuis l’attaque. Il se dit blessé par certains propos de rabbins ou d’hommes politiques qui ont mis sur le même plan l’attaque et l’organisation d’une telle manifestation. « Contrairement à ce que l’on veut faire croire à l’étranger, Israël n’est pas gay-friendly. Tel-Aviv est une ville très ouverte, mais elle ne représente pas le pays », tranche le jeune militant."

Tom Canning says that, contrary to what one wishes an outsider to believe, Israel is not gay friendly. Tel Aviv is very open, but it does not represent the country.

The story continues:
"

Le pinkwashing ou le blanchissement de l’image d’Israël en mettant en avant la communauté homosexuelle est pourtant une arme de communication utilisée par les dirigeants israéliens. On ne compte plus les campagnes publicitaires, les sites Internet ou les messages de soutien des politiques israéliens envers la communauté LGBT. Certes, l’homosexualité a été dépénalisée en 1988, les mariages de même sexe contractés à l’étranger sont reconnus et la GPA (gestation pour autrui) est ouverte aux couples homosexuels depuis 2014. Mais derrière cette façade se cache une réalité bien sombre."

Briefly, the "pinkwashing", or the whitewashing of the image of Israel is one of the communication tactics used to hide a very different reality.


The entire story is much more nuanced than your excerpt.
To read more:
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2015/08/29/etre-gay-en-israel-un-combat-de-tous-les-jours_4739941_3218.html

[King_David]

5. The OP takes on that article

Which had an agenda.

Israel the only country in the area that is decidedly NOT Gay nasty and pretty much as gay friendly as Canada is or the USA will be in a few years.... Compared to the absolutely gay hateful , gay backward , gay medieval neighbors of Israel ..... For thousands and thousands of miles surrounding.....

Thanks in a large part to Israel's very liberal Jewish Heritage.

BTW ...Being from Quebec you should realize how Jewish heritage makes that province more liberal than the decidedly Xenophobic separatists would be left to their own devices.

[guillaumeb]

9. As to Israel being gay friendly, again, to quote from the story,

« Contrairement à ce que l’on veut faire croire à l’étranger, Israël n’est pas gay-friendly. Tel-Aviv est une ville très ouverte, mais elle ne représente pas le pays », tranche le jeune militant."


Tom Canning says that, contrary to what one wishes an outsider to believe, Israel is not gay friendly. Tel Aviv is very open, but it does not represent the country.

This is the opinion of one person, but the vicious attack that was committed against the parade viewers shows that Israel, like the US, like Canada, like many countries, has people who cannot accept sexual equality. Hatred of gays is not a national trait, but an individual one. Plus what is accepted in large cities can be quite different from what is seen in small towns.

As to Quebec being a liberal province, that depends on whether one lives in Montreal or St. Augustin. Small towns are much more conservative in my experience.

On xenophobia, are Israelis also xenophobic? How else to explain the hatred of Palestinians?

Vive le Quebec libre!

[King_David]

11. The OP takes on that article you keep referencing.

Israel's neighbors treat Gays like target practice... In Syria the Islamic States new sport is throwing Gays off buildings... Gaza is not much better... Lebanon for now has an illegal Gay life but not for long when ISIS will invade soon... Egypt and Jordan are not fond of the Gays and the West Bank? - best try get to Israel or Europe.

[6chars]

13. Sounds like some excellent second hand knowledge

[King_David]

8. Whitewashing?

Here's a story on whitewashing a rainbow flag.


http://www.haaretz.com/wwwMobileSite/news/middle-east/1.663942

[guillaumeb]

10. The wall is built on Palestinian land. eom

[King_David]

12. Yea and because a Palestinian painted a Rainbow flag on it

It was whitewashed by the locals on whose land it was built ....because the flag was "gay"

[6chars]

14. Thanks for posting this.

[King_David]

15. You welcome