Open Letter From Tel-Aviv Council Member
August 12, 2009 by James Hipps
Dear Friends,
Israel’s GLBT community has endured a terrible tragedy. On Saturday evening, August 1st, a cold blooded murderer entered the offices of the Aguda, Israel’s national GLBT Organization and mercilessly opened fire on 11 defenseless teenagers. Two young people were killed. The rest were rushed to ICU where some still remain.
The public outcry against this crime came to a head on August 8th, when close to 70,000 people rallied in Tel Aviv’s central “Rabin Square,” demonstrating their support for the Gay community and against violence.
The message at the rally was clear: No murderer will frighten us! No murderer will succeed in pushing us back into the closet! Tel Aviv will continue to be the capital of pride and freedom. Hate crimes and gay bashing have never been part of the Israeli mosaic. They never were part of our culture and the population screamed out in one loud and clear voice that they will not be accepted now.
The gay community in Israel is powerful and united, and with the companionship of our worldwide friends, we will continue marching forward.
Each social movement, each struggle, has a moment in history that changes everything. That was the moment we experienced last week in Tel Aviv.
The enormous support that our community has loudly and unequivocally received from President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Education Gidon Sa’ar and other government officials is groundbreaking. We hope and pray that from the pain, some major achievements will be attained in promoting our ongoing struggle for equal rights.
During the last few years we’ve been working non stop to build Tel Aviv’s image as a Mediterranean capital of Gay tourism. The people, the bars, the parties, the restaurants, the white sandy beaches, the sense of absolute freedom – these are the components that justify this image.
Especially now, especially today, I’m calling you to choose Tel Aviv as your next holiday destination.
For more info please visit our web site www.visit-tlv.com or write to Shai Doitsh, IGLTA Israel ambassador & head of gay dep. At the AGUDA shai@glbt.org.il
Best regards and we look forwards to greeting you here in Tel Aviv!
Yaniv Waizman
Tel-Aviv City Council Member
Advisor to the mayor on the GTBT community
Chairman of the tourism committee
[...] this image.” But this is just an image, an image they are “working non stop to build”, as letter writer, Yaniv Waizman (Tel-Aviv City Council Member and Chairman of the tourism committee), himself notes. Before you [...]