WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Israelis rally after 2 murdered at gay center
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-03 08:59 Mike Hamel, a gay rights activist whose organization runs the youth club, said the center was meant to be a safe place where gay teens -- many of them still concealing their sexual identity from their families and friends -- could meet with counselors and other teenagers. He blamed religious incitement against homosexuals for the attack. "Beyond the pain, the frustration and the anger, we are facing a situation in which the incitement to hate creates an environment that allows this to happen," Hamel said.
The attack drew condemnations from Tel Aviv's mayor, Cabinet ministers, the country's chief rabbis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We'll bring him to justice and exercise the full extent of the law against him," Netanyahu said of the killer, speaking at the Israeli Cabinet's weekly meeting.
"This is the worst attack ever against the gay community in Israel," he said. "This act was a blind attack against innocent youths, and I expect the authorities to exercise all means in apprehending the shooter." Israel's gays and lesbians typically enjoy freedoms similar to their counterparts in European countries. Gay soldiers serve openly in the military, and gay musicians and actors are among the country's most popular. Tel Aviv holds a festive annual gay parade, rainbow flags are often seen flying from apartment windows and there is a city-funded community center for gays. Things are different in conservative Jerusalem, however, where there have been clashes between religious and gay activists. In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox protester stabbed three marchers at a Jerusalem gay parade. Last year, a lawmaker from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party suggested in Parliament that earthquakes were divine punishment for homosexual activity. The party, whose members have been among the most frequent critics of gays, also issued a statement condemning Saturday's attack. The youth at the club "go there because it is a refuge of sorts for them," songwriter and gay activist Rona Keinan wrote in the daily Yediot Ahronot. "The very thought that a person might enter that protected space and simply open fire at them is shocking. I just want to cry." Some of the parents of the wounded teenagers were not aware their children were gay until they were summoned to the hospital Saturday night, said Avi Soffer, 60, a volunteer at the center. "They didn't even know the kids were coming," Soffer said. |
