No gay residents in Beit Shemesh, haredi Orthodox mayor says
An LBGT group filed a complaint against the haredi Orthodox mayor of Beit Shemesh after he said on television that his “holy and pure” city does not have homosexual residents.
Moshe Abutbul, who was re-elected three weeks ago after a contentious campaign that pitted secular and more Modern Orthodox residents against haredi Orthodox residents, also told Israel Channel 10 in an interview that aired Friday that the Health Ministry and the police are responsible for handling the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) community.
Asked if the city has gay residents, Abutbul said, “We have no such thing. If you mean what I think you mean, then no. Thank God, this city is holy and pure.”
On Sunday, the Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgendered in Israel filed a complaint against the mayor.
“This constitutes incitement, urging attacks on and a show of contempt for the LGBT community,” said Shai Doitsh, the association’s ch
Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/11/10/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/no-gay-residents-in-beit-shemesh-haredi-orthodox-mayor-says#ixzz2mYGn1b5m
US Jewish group slam Beit Shemesh mayor over anti-gay slurs
The mayor of Beit Shemesh is facing blowback from American Jewish groups after calling gays a health problem that needs to be “taken care of.”
“There are no gays in my city, thank God,” Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul told Channel 10 News earlier this week, referring to gays as unholy and impure.
“Expressions of intolerance have no place in Israeli public discourse, especially coming from elected officials,” Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement on Tuesday, calling on Abutbul to apologize. “We strongly condemn the insensitive and hurtful comments made by Beit Shemesh’s mayor about his city’s LGBT population.”
In a published letter to Abutbul on Monday, leaders of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington asked the mayor to retract his comments, calling them hurtful, offensive and false.
“We are outraged by your comments recently on Channel 10, in which you said there are no homosexuals in your ‘holy and pure’ city,” read the letter.
Washington’s local government has a sister-city relationship with Beit Shemesh.
http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Jewish-leaders-in-Washington-slam-Beit-Shemesh-mayor-over-anti-gay-slurs-331457
'No Gays In My Town, Thank God' Says Ultra Orthodox Israeli Mayor Moshe Abutbul
Beit Shemesh mayor Moshe Abutbul continued with comments to the effect homosexuality was a issue which needed to be handled by “the Health Ministry or the police”, The Telegraph reported.
Speaking on Friday, he told Israel’s Channel 10 News: “We have none of those things [gays] here. Thank God, this city is holy and pure.
When asked the presence of homosexuality, Abutbul who was re-elected three weeks ago, replied: “There’s the Health Ministry, let them handle it. The Health Ministry, the police.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/12/no-gays-ultra-orthodox-israeli-mayor-moshe-abutbul_n_4259045.html
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