Promoting Israel’s virtues

July 22, 2009 - 11:02 AM by

A promo for 'Men of Israel' (Courtesy Lucas Films)

A promo for 'Men of Israel' (Courtesy Lucas Films)

Between protesting open parking lots on Shabbat to protesting the arrest of an allegedly abusive Jerusalem mother, haredim in Israel may have missed this tidbit – one that contains more reasons for them to protest than the number of rocks they can lob.

The imminent release of Men of Israel, an adult X-rated film featuring explicit gay sex, is being touted by New York-based director Michael Lucas as a landmark – the first gay porno film to feature an ‘all-Israeli’ cast. Hurray for the blue and white!

According to a story in The Tablet, Lucas’s web site calls the film “a bold move to promote Israeli culture and tourism,” and extols extols the gay-friendly virtues of a country rich with natural wonders, intriguing museums, liberal politics, and friendly locals.

With names like Morr Foxx, Matan Shalev, Avi Dar, and Naor Tal, the actors in Men of Israel certainly expose a side of Israel that hasn’t yet been exploited in the hasbara wars. The Tablet story, by Wayne Hoffman, focuses on a few of the Jewish porn stars who have thrived in straight adult films, and mentions the short-lived film career of New York Israeli Consulate worker Dror Barak, who appeared in films for Raging Stallion Studios under the name Roman Ragazzi.

Whether it marks a trend in the future of promoting Israel, or whether our shores will be swamped with gay tourists from around the world as a result of Men in Israel remains to be seen. But maybe if the haredim hear about it, they’ll forget about the parking lot for a few weeks.

Tags: , , , • Category: Blogging, General, Holidays, Movies, Pop Culture, Travel 

Comments

One Comment on Promoting Israel’s virtues

  1. David-Joe on Sat, Jul 25th 2009 3:33 AM

    2. Anyone would always be in bad moods dressed like the haredi!

    As usual it is the religious that attempt to impose their tyrrany on everyone else.

    I would like to point out as someone that was born and raised on a kibbutz – the religious Jews were nowhere to be seen during the years that blood was shed to win Medinat Yisrael.

    It was fought for and built by the secular and the kibbutzniks.

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