How do you say ‘Coming out of the closet’ in Arabic?

October 5, 2006 - 10:30 AM by

Brian Whitaker at the UK’s Guardian, has a newsworthy item by about the experiences of an Israeli Arab lesbian (who prefers to consider herself Palestinian) who went public in 2003, after giving an interview to Yediot Ahronot:

“All of a sudden, the Arab population of her home town [in northern Israel], which she generally assumed to have no interest in the literary supplements of Hebrew newspapers, seemed to have read the article and had something to say about her. Local corner shop owners made photocopies and distributed it, because, after all, everyone knew it was about the daughter of so-and-so from their own town.

“The consequences of that article were far more serious than Ms Morcos had imagined: her car windows were smashed and tyres were punctured several times, she received innumerable threatening letters and phone calls, and, to top it all, ‘coincidentally’ lost her job as a school teacher, since parents of pupils complained that they did not want her as a teacher.”

Since this is the Guardian, Israel must, of course, come in for a body slam, but Whitaker does first point out Israel’s (relative) openess to homosexuality:

Israel legalised same-sex relations between men in 1988. Four years later, it went a step further and became the only country in the Middle East that outlaws discrimination based on sexuality. A series of court cases then put the theory into practice – for example, when El Al was forced to provide a free ticket for the partner of a gay flight attendant, as the airline already did for the partners of its straight employees.

These are undisputed achievements but they have also become a propaganda tool, reinforcing Israel’s claim to be the only liberal, democratic society in the Middle East. At the same time, highlighting Israel’s association with gay rights has made life more difficult for gay Arabs, adding grist to the popular notion that homosexuality is a “disease” spread by foreigners.

Interesting reading.

(Cross-posted at Israel At Level Ground)

Tags: • Category: A New Reality, Israeliness, Life, Politics 

Comments

One Comment on How do you say ‘Coming out of the closet’ in Arabic?

  1. Selkie on Fri, Oct 6th 2006 11:19 PM

    2. So according to the Guardian, the truth=propaganda.
    You just gotta love how they find a way to make Israel’s accomplishments a bad thing. It’s Israel’s fault that Palestinians don’t like gays.
    I’m waiting for someone to argue that the US shouldn’t legalize gay marriage because it will make Muslims hate us and make life harder for gay Muslims.

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