Tens of thousands kick off Tel Aviv's gay pride parade

[MrChangers]

Israel has begun an aggressive public relations campaign to market itself as an oasis of gay tolerance and democracy in the Mideast, surrounded by "backward" countries where gays have no rights.

It seems that Israel has a very valid point.

After such bad press on the world stage at the current time any support is welcome ........ black/gay/neo-nazi/sado-masoicists seek same as the small ads run

[MrChangers]

From the article :

'Unlike previous years, there was no counter-protest by far-right activists.'

It is good that the scum didn't show up. Far-right groups anywhere in the world are scum ; they are full of hatred and often act violently.

Jem

So Israel's army missing out on this "Bash" then?

[geriatrickid]

And Israel will be starting to pay for theirs as the majority of the world is against them.

Not really. The Palestinian issue is a convenient way to distract populations away from bigger problems. There is always someone with the strength and courage to say no. Prime Minister Harper at the G-8, the only politician with a recent majority mandate and with one of the strongest economies in the G-8 put the kabosh on the Europeans' efforts to use a statement on the Palestinian issue to distract from the European inspired Libyan activity. I'm sure there are many people that hate Israel and that hate jews and christians and people with freckles too. So what? Most people have better things to do than to contemplate Israel or angry arabs in Syria or the plight of pygmies in Africa. The majority of people in the world are too busy trying to survive. In case you missed it, famine and disease are the number one worry.

And now back to this Pride event. It is an event where people can come together and just have fun. There are plenty of arab men and women that participate. They do so as human beings and they don't wear a sign that says look at me, I'm a gay arab Israeli. The hippies used to say make love, not war (or at least that's what the documentary showed on the telly as I wasn't old enough to know what hippies and beatniks were way back when - they just seemed to be dirty people that had fleas). Well, Pride is an event where people are all about love and happiness and surely that's better than throwing rocks and blowing things up. So I suggest to you, that at the next Thai gay pride, you go and participate and give someone a smile, a friendly hug, throw some love beads and have a cold beer. Bring the kids. They like the costumes. Heck go to a tea party and dance up a storm. I tried to go to one but my friends made me sit in a corner because I couldn't dance and I would be thought of as some sort of psycho if I kept making faces. They made me sit there and hold their sweaty shirts for an hour. Due to my man boob condition, I kept my shirt on in case you were wondering.

Edited June 15, 2011 by geriatrickid

[Scott]

Off-topic posts deleted. Further infractions of the rules will earn posters a suspension of posting ability.

Please re-read the OP and post according to the topic.

[Steely Dan]

There is no doubt that Israel has civil liberties that we from the west can identify with, as related in the OP. The comment by Nitzan Horowitz though. shows that perhaps total acceptance and equality of homosexuals has a way to go yet, as is the case in many other countries.

Off topic: A common trend I notice on any thread mentioning Israel, is some posters will almost always start comparisons with it's Arab neighbours, even though no other country is mentioned in the OP.

That's because Israel is a Middle Eastern country located right in the middle of the Arabic world.

Next ...

Israel’s gay PR campaign

Israel has begun an aggressive public relations campaign to market itself as an oasis of gay tolerance and democracy in the Mideast, surrounded by “backward” countries where gays have no rights. The campaign is not about supporting queers in Palestine or elsewhere in the Mideast who are resisting homophobia. It is about using their experience of homophobia to promote hatred of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims – including queer Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims.

http://queersagainstapartheid.org/gayisrael/

So Israel is supposedly only tolerant towards gay people in order to make it's neighbors look bad, not that they need any help in that department. What a cynical twisted repugnant mode of thinking. One thing is for sure though anyone wearing a queers for Palestine T-shirt should be better advised wearing a turkeys for Christmas T-shirt, especially if Hamas are in power. Hamas is actually an acronyn for Islamic resistance movement - read the Koran for further guidance on this issue.

[JUDAS]

There is no doubt that Israel has civil liberties that we from the west can identify with, as related in the OP. The comment by Nitzan Horowitz though. shows that perhaps total acceptance and equality of homosexuals has a way to go yet, as is the case in many other countries.

Off topic: A common trend I notice on any thread mentioning Israel, is some posters will almost always start comparisons with it's Arab neighbours, even though no other country is mentioned in the OP.

That's because Israel is a Middle Eastern country located right in the middle of the Arabic world.

Next ...

Israel’s gay PR campaign

Israel has begun an aggressive public relations campaign to market itself as an oasis of gay tolerance and democracy in the Mideast, surrounded by “backward” countries where gays have no rights. The campaign is not about supporting queers in Palestine or elsewhere in the Mideast who are resisting homophobia. It is about using their experience of homophobia to promote hatred of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims – including queer Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims.

http://queersagainstapartheid.org/gayisrael/

So Israel is supposedly only tolerant towards gay people in order to make it's neighbors look bad, not that they need any help in that department. What a cynical twisted repugnant mode of thinking. One thing is for sure though anyone wearing a queers for Palestine T-shirt should be better advised wearing a turkeys for Christmas T-shirt, especially if Hamas are in power. Hamas is actually an acronyn for Islamic resistance movement - read the Koran for further guidance on this issue.

The OP relates to a gay parade in Israel. The very fact that homosexuals can have a parade and live openly in a country is a reflection of that nation's openness and acceptance of those who do not make up the majority, most of us call that human rights....

[JemJem]

From the article :

'Unlike previous years, there was no counter-protest by far-right activists.'

It is good that the scum didn't show up. Far-right groups anywhere in the world are scum ; they are full of hatred and often act violently.

Jem

So Israel's army missing out on this "Bash" then?

Would you care to explain your question/point ? In that post of mine, I haven't written or implied anything regarding the Israeli army.

In countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and many places in Africa, same-sex marriage will sadly never happen but will it ever happen in countries like the Philippines, Poland, Turkey and Israel (where religion is moderately influential in many platforms of society)? Time will tell. I am not so optimistic though.

Jem

[endure]

From the article :

'Unlike previous years, there was no counter-protest by far-right activists.'

It is good that the scum didn't show up. Far-right groups anywhere in the world are scum ; they are full of hatred and often act violently.

Jem

So Israel's army missing out on this "Bash" then?

Would you care to explain your question/point ? In that post of mine, I haven't written or implied anything regarding the Israeli army.

In countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and many places in Africa, same-sex marriage will sadly never happen but will it ever happen in countries like the Philippines, Poland, Turkey and Israel (where religion is moderately influential in many platforms of society)? Time will tell. I am not so optimistic though.

Jem

*Deleted quote edited out*

That allows it's homosexual members the same (and sometimes more) rights than its heterosexual members which is what this thread is all about. I'd rather be gay in Israel than dead in Iran/Bahrain/Saudi/take your pick.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Scott
Deleted quote edited out

[Scott]

I will close this topic in order to clean up and delete all the off-topic, troll, baiting and flaming posts.

[Scott]

Reopened but further off topic, flaming posts will result in a permanent closure. This is not a general discussion of the middle East, politics or religion in the region.

Here's a clue: Gay, Tel Aviv (Israel).