Attack in the heart of Tel Aviv

August 2, 2009 - 11:16 AM by David

The Tel Aviv Gay Pride parade - will it ever be the same after Saturday's attack?

The Tel Aviv Gay Pride parade - will it ever be the same after Saturday's attack?

We always tout Israel’s – and specifically Tel Aviv’s – tolerant policies and attitudes toward alternative lifestyles. Which makes the horrible news about a masked gunman entering gay youth center in downtown Tel Aviv Saturday night and opening fire killing two and wounding 15 particularly difficult to digest.

According to the police, the masked gunman opened fire, then holstered his pistol and fled the scene by foot to the busy streets of Tel Aviv. The victims of the attack were named as Nir Katz, 26, of Givatayim, and Liz Troubishi, 17, of Holon. According to patrons, the center was not a club or disco, but just a place for teens from 14-21 to hang out in a non-threatening environment.

According to Ha’aretz, Gays and lesbians enjoy great freedom and liberties in Israel. Soldiers serve openly in the military, and openly gay musicians and actors like Ivry Lider are among the most popular in the country. Meretz MK Nitsan Horovitz is openly gay and ran for the current Knesset on a platform of gay rights.

Tel Aviv, one of the more liberal cities in the world, holds a festive annual gay parade, and the there is even a city-sponsored open house for the community. The media in Israel was full of speculation on Sunday whether this was the work of a crazed, lone gunman, or whether it was due to the cultivation of intolerance that certain segments of society have toward gays.

Israel is a place which, on the one hand has liberal laws, but on the other does not attempt to counter homophobia, claimed Danny Zak, a gay activist and journalist,

“The Shas party has the blood of two innocent kids on their hands,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “Shas has blamed gays for earthquakes and diseases. This is incitement, but no one is put on trial for it,” he said.

Shas released a statement following the shooting in which it called for the attacker “to be found and tried. Murder is of course against the Torah’s path and every attack is a contravention of the religion of Israel.”

All of the countries leaders, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Deputy PM Silvan Shalom and Oppostion leader MK Tzippi Livni condemmed the attack. But MK Horovitz also raised the spectre of incitement from public leaders being behind the attack.

“There has been non-stop incitement,” he told the Post. “I very much hope this is not the result of comments made by public figures and Knesset members. They need to understand that some people will take action.”

He said the fact that the location of the center had been disclosed and that the murderer knew exactly where to go were serious blows to the gay community.

While the attack against the center was horrific, the public outcry against the attack and the unanimous condemnation across the board from public officials hopefully points to a future where an environment will not be allowed to develop where something like this could happen.

Tags: , , , , • Category: A New Reality, Crime, General, Life, Religion, coexistence 

Comments

3 Comments on Attack in the heart of Tel Aviv

  1. StealthCereal | “2 Gay Teens in Tel Aviv, Israel Murdered; 15 Wounded After Shooting” and related posts on Sun, Aug 2nd 2009 2:00 PM

    2. [...] Attack in the heart of Tel Aviv - ISRAELITY [...]

  2. “2 Gay Teens in Tel Aviv, Israel Murdered; 15 Wounded After Shooting” and related posts - BeWell Buddy on Sun, Aug 2nd 2009 2:36 PM

    3. [...] Attack in the heart of Tel Aviv - ISRAELITY [...]

  3. David-Joe on Tue, Aug 4th 2009 1:41 AM

    4. Blaming anyone other than the shooter is principally false.

    We know what religion says, and by its nature it is not a tolerant entity. However, nobody, as far as I know called for criminal action which of course would then make them guilty to be tried with the shooter.

    The issue is also not a “hate crime” – such a descripion impossibly raises it above murder.

    That these people were gay is not important because there is always a reason – important is that it is murder and the shooter must be tried for the greatest sin that there is: deliberately destroyiing the right of those two individuals to their lives.

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