Gay and free in Israel

Samer Elatrash’s summary of why radical gay rights groups are calling for a boycott of the Jerusalem WorldPride [The Front, “Jerusalem Pride snub,” Aug. 10] is such a non sequitur that it deserves to be read in a slow, sardonic tone for its absurdity to be fully appreciated. The coalition behind the boycott says that, “gay rights should not be celebrated while the rights of Palestinians are violated.” (Insert bewildered Jon Stewart face.) How this line of reasoning can make sense to anyone but the most myopic Israel-hater is beyond me.

On the contrary, Israel should be applauded as the only nation in the Middle East to even tolerate homosexuals. Tel-Aviv has long been a haven for gay Palestinians who are viciously persecuted in the territories. Young Palestinians risk their lives to cross into Israel rather than have their sexual orientation discovered by their communities. There are numerous reports of young Palestinian men beaten by their own families or threatened death for their supposed crimes.

As the Israeli capital hosts thousands of openly gay activists from around the world, this summer marks the one-year anniversary of the Iranian capital’s brutal anti-gay purge. Since July 2005, at least a dozen Iranian men aged 17–23 have been executed for unspecified “sexual offences.” In the most infamous case, on July 18, 2005, two Iranian teens were hanged in a city square after being held in prison for 14 months and severely beaten with 228 lashes. They were charged with “homosexuality.” Most of these despicable incidents go unreported as Iranians live in fear of President Ahmadinejad’s fascist regime.

That any queer group would choose to snub an international celebration of gay rights held by a democratic state, rather than protest the cruel isolation and persecution of gay youth throughout the Muslim world, is a disgrace to their cause. In the midst of a tragic war that it did not ask for, Jerusalem WorldPride is Israel’s declaration to the world that it is, at its core, an open, progressive, peace-loving society. I, for one, hope it is a resounding success.

» Dan Levy

Terrorism a loaded term

Gis Bun grossly underestimates readers’ intelligence by regurgitating Israel’s discredited party line [Letters, “Israel vs. Hezbollah,” Aug. 10]. Claiming that Lebanese prisoners held by Israel are “terrorists” is a crude and transparent attempt at dehumanization. If they are terrorists, why have they not been charged?

These are the facts: Hezbollah was only born in reaction to Israel’s 18-year occupation of South Lebanon. Its members are indigenous Lebanese—ordinary people resisting an invading army. (Suggestions that Hezbollah is a foreign movement because of the trickle of arms it receives from Iran and Syria are laughable in light of the massive military support Israel gets from Washington.) Yes, like any resistance group, Hezbollah uses guerrilla tactics that sometimes kill innocent people. But revealingly, the glaring reality in this current conflict is that Hezbollah’s victims have been mostly Israeli soldiers, while it is Israel’s victims who are overwhelmingly civilian. No wonder Hezbollah’s reputation is soaring while Israel’s has sunk to a new low.

A universally accepted definition of terror is the use of violence against civilian populations to force geopolitical changes. The blitzkrieg of Lebanon to weaken Hezbollah is a textbook example of a terror campaign. A basic truism: not only groups but states use terror, and the only difference is that the latter can inflict more death.

Stop prostituting language by using “terrorism” as a term of propaganda rather than description. Hezbollah is a “terrorist” group in the same way the WWII French Resistance was a “terrorist” group to the occupying Germans. Hezbollah’s terror may be condemned, but it is retail stuff compared to Israel’s wholesale variety.

History will judge harshly Israel’s latest orgy of carnage in Lebanon. And not unlike the “good Germans” of an earlier age, its supporters will be regarded with the contempt they deserve.

» John Dirlik

More Kansas lefties surface!

I was very pleased and surprised to see a letter headed “Kansas lefties speak,” in last week’s Mirror [Aug. 10]. I am originally from Montreal, but found myself, through a bizarre series of coincidences, living in Wichita, Kansas, eight years ago. I admit that I had some pretty negative pre-conceived notions of what I might find there (and I have to say that a lot of them were justified), but I agree that Lawrence is an oasis in a cultural wasteland, and would like to add that Wichita is gradually becoming one as well.

I passionately oppose much of contemporary American religious and political ideology, and my mental good health depends on an annual two-month sabbatical in Montreal, to get back in touch with my Canadian roots.

However, I do feel an obligation to inform the rest of the world that there do exist some smaller cities in America’s Heartland‚ that, if you know where to look, support vibrant and sophisticated art and music scenes that rival, and in some cases even supersede, what I found in Paris, the city I was living in before I moved to Wichita. There is certainly more than one “leftie” living in Kansas!

» Elizabeth Stevenson, Wichita, Kansas

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