The month of November was one of fault and redemption for the state of Israel, recognizable through the prism of the lives of its gay citizens.
The fault lay in the response by small, yet vocal, segments of the Orthodox Jewish community to the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade, originally scheduled for Nov. 10. Though this was to be the city's fifth annual parade, ultra-religious Orthodox youth took to the streets in the weeks before in violent rioting and some rabbis denounced the event as an abomination on Judaism's holiest city.
This outrage was nothing new for Israel. Last year an Orthodox man stabbed three parade-goers and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Ultimately, parade organizers reached a compromise with the city's police (who were not opposed to a parade on principle but were fearful at the possibility of violence) and held a rally at a Jerusalem soccer stadium.
In an ironic ecumenical twist, religious fundamentalists from both the Jewish and Muslim communities came together to condemn the parade. It's disappointing that this unusual and erstwhile cooperation was motivated by a common bigotry, rather than, say, a shared realization that terrorism and military occupation is hurting both Israelis and Palestinians. Yet finding peace in the Middle East has always proved more difficult than raining down epithets on the gays, reliable targets for fundamentalists of all confessional stripes.
The Lord, however, does work in mysterious ways. A mere two weeks after the riots, redemption came in the form of a 6-1 decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice ruling that gay couples legally married outside of Israel must receive recognition by the country's marriage registry.
The response from ultra-religious members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, was vocal. "We don't have a Jewish state here. We have Sodom and Gomorrah here," one member remarked. Yet Israel will continue to thrive as a Jewish state not in spite of, but because of this decision.
Watching the various reactions to these events, the diversity and contradictions of Israel could not have been made more clear. Two hostile and always-competing values of Israeli society were on display: intolerance and pluralism. Those Jews who burned cars and streetlights in riots leading up to the Gay Pride parade proved themselves to be just as fanatical as the Muslim fundamentalists they often criticize. The court's decision moved Israel away from religiously sanctioned discrimination (de facto law in the Arab world) and in the direction of the progressive West, once again demonstrating that Israel stands alone among Middle Eastern countries as a place where gay people live in dignity.
Having just returned from my first visit to Israel, I was amazed at its vibrancy. Contrary to the image that many anti-Zionists purport, Israel is not some white, colonialist settler state oppressing dark-skinned Palestinians, as comforting as this image might seem to those with stubborn leftist political agendas. A great portion of Israelis claim Middle Eastern and African backgrounds; Israel is not an ethnically pure nation of Ashkenazim (Jews of European origin).
Let it never be said the religiously pious are completely lacking in a sense of humor. One young, observant Jewish man I spoke with delivered a characteristically Jewish response to the events surrounding the canceling of the Gay Pride parade: It was not the abomination of sodomy, necessarily, that the ultra-Orthodox opposed, but rather the threat that the parade might prompt the return of the World Pride festival, (originally scheduled for August of this year but canceled in the wake of the recent Lebanon war).
"We don't want all those foreign gays coming here to take our gays," he laughed. In other words: we want our Jewish boys to find other nice Jewish boys. Apparently the threat of intermarriage - the precursor to the dreaded phenomenon of assimilation - traverses sexual orientation.
Last week's court decision was a step forward not only for the state of Israel, but for Jewish people the world over. As a Jew and a Zionist, I could not have been more proud.
12 Comments for “Israel, Middle-East Beacon”
posted by Keith on
Israel’s marriage laws are unique in the world as far as I know. There remain some pretty stringent miscegnation laws, similar to those in the US prior to Loving vs Virginia.
Marriage WITHIN Israel is limitted to partners of the same religion. The Rabbinate works through the Orthodox Jewish parties in the knesset to keep it that way.
Yet, Israel recognizes mixed-religion marriages conducted OUTSIDE of Israel. So, if a Jew and a Muslim or Christian want to marry, they simply jet off to Cyprus for a weekend, tie the knot, and the marriage is recognized at home in Israel.
It seems perfectly logical that the Supreme Court would extend this same concept to same-sex marriages.
Would that the US Feds and States were as sensible. How nice it would be if our “defense of marriage” simply meant that we couldn’t have “objectionable” weddings within our borders, but had the heart to give recognition to those who celebrate their unions in Canada or one of the other places where marriage is legal.
posted by Craig2 on
*Mainstream* Israel and *mainstream* Judaism, sure, but like the United States and most of the rest of the western world, they have their own religious right. In their case, though, it happens to be Orthodox Jewish. Now there’s a thought, IGF. What about connections between Orthodox Jewish religious rightists in the United States and their links to the Orthodox right in Israel? It’d make an interesting feature.
Craig2
Wellington, New Zealand
posted by Northeast Libertarian on
Would that the US Feds and States were as sensible. How nice it would be if our “defense of marriage” simply meant that we couldn’t have “objectionable” weddings within our borders, but had the heart to give recognition to those who celebrate their unions in Canada or one of the other places where marriage is legal.
I’d much prefer living in an actual free society, where my private life and its constructs would be free of the regulations of meddlesome bureaucrats — religious or otherwise dogmatic.
posted by Bobby on
“Watching the various reactions to these events, the diversity and contradictions of Israel could not have been made more clear. Two hostile and always-competing values of Israeli society were on display”
—-The difference between America and Israel is that those two opposing cultures are allowed to co-exist. Israel has no hate speech laws, no political correctness, if a controversial conservative speaker goes to campus, he isn’t attacked. They don’t have child protective services stealing kids from rightwing homes as it has happened in Idaho and other places. In Israel is ok for people to have different opinions, the liberals there aren’t trying to force everyone to be like them. They just want the orthodox to leave them alone and for the most part, the orthodox oblige and expect the same.
posted by kittynboi on
Bobby, only you would be stupid enough to talk about that as if it were a complet one way street in regards to how things are in the U.S.
posted by Craig2 on
Actually, no, Bobby. When Jerusalem Pride organisers tried to organise a march through the city, Orthodox Right hardliners resorted to vandalism and violence, definitely not doing their cause much good.
Craig2
Wellington,
New Zealand
posted by Northeast Libertarian on
Israel has no hate speech laws
Neither does the United States.
When Jerusalem Pride organisers tried to organise a march through the city, Orthodox Right hardliners resorted to vandalism and violence, definitely not doing their cause much good.
That’s an unfortunate consequence of religious belief. Wherever it goes, death, oppression and suffering soon follow.
posted by kittynboi on
“”””Israel has no hate speech laws
Neither does the United States.””””
LOL.
Looks like bobby got served and owned yet again.
posted by Bobby on
“Israel has no hate speech laws
Neither does the United States.”
—Ever been to college, buddy? Read their speech codes and you’ll see “hate speech” is illegal.
“That’s an unfortunate consequence of religious belief. Wherever it goes, death, oppression and suffering soon follow.”
—What about Stalin, Castro, Pol Pot? Where was religion there? You libertarians hate religion so much you have no problem making blatant statements like that.
“Looks like bobby got served and owned yet again.”
—Kittynboi, you’re a typical San Francisco asshole. I’m glad the navy is moving their new boat construction to San Diego, a place with more political diversity, not “I’m republican when it’s convenient” chameleons like you. Your city does not deserve any federal dollars, not after your kind voted against military recruiters and your board threw out JROTC.
I’m glad I live in a red state, away from people like you.
posted by kittynboi on
Bobby, you are without a doubt the biggest idiot on here.
college campuses are part of the U.S. but campus rules are no more laws than the rules of a highschool are laws, and that you would even try to say otherwise exposes just how utterly ignorant you are.
And I can say somewhere is a nice place without living there. Haven’t you ever told someone that somewhere was nice even though you didn’t live there? I’ve never claimed to live in San Francisco.
And not only have I never taken steroids, but I’ve never taken any drugs, smoked, or drank in my life. I can assure you that when it comes ot stuff like that, I’m more clean and spotless than you are.
All you can ever do is lie, whine, bitch, distort and make things up just to lash out at everyone on here, and then you’ll occasionally wonder why you get responses like this one.
And its spelled “dumbass”, not “dumass”.
posted by Bobby on
“Bobby, you are without a doubt the biggest idiot on here.”
—And yet you seem compelled to debate me even when I’m not speaking to you. How interesting, perhaps you are projecting your own feelings of insecurity.
“and then you’ll occasionally wonder why you get responses like this one.”
—I get them because you’re bored and need someone to fight with. It’s all a game for you.
posted by Audrey on
To all the Jews who might read this, Happy Chanukah!