D.C. to Hold Summit on Gays In Foreign Armies

From PR Newswire:

The Palm Center has announced plans to convene a Washington, D.C. summit of officials and experts from military forces that allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly, including the Israel Defense Force and NATO member militaries. The summit, which is planned for early spring, will focus on the implementation of personnel policies for openly gay troops. British and Israeli experts have confirmed their participation.

“As military and political leaders anticipate the end of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ the lessons from the twenty-five foreign forces that allow open gay service are instructive,” stated Dr. Aaron Belkin, Director of the Palm Center. Belkin cited three questions that generally dominate the comparison: Did the decision to allow open gay service undermine military readiness? How was implementation managed? To what extent can lessons from abroad help U.S. officials plan for an inclusive policy?

More here!

Gay-Porn Mogul Hopes to Arouse Interest in Israel

Barack Obama’s administration has introduced a harsher line toward Israel than those of his recent predecessors, more Americans favor a two-state solution, and a U.N. panel has found evidence of war crimes in Israel’s Gaza offensive last winter. The country could really use some positive attention, says filmmaker Michael Lucas.

And he has a simple solution: gay porn. Yes, Lucas is that kind of filmmaker─but that’s no problem for Israel, he told Haaretz:

“It’s free PR for Israel, and it’s much better than the PR they’re getting on the news,” he said during a tour of the company’s expansive second-floor offices, with views of the New York Times building across the street. “The reality is that Israel has only one face to people on the street, and that’s the West Bank and Gaza. All people see in the media is a country of disaster. They get images of a blown-up bus.”

Read the rest at: Newsweek.com!

Open Letter From Tel-Aviv Council Member

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

Thousands March in Tel Aviv Gay Solidarity Rally

From: JTA – The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in solidarity with Israel’s gay community at a rally in Tel Aviv.

Saturday night’s rally also was a show of support for the victims of last week’s shooting at a Tel Aviv community center for gay and lesbian youth in which two were killed and a dozen wounded.

Israeli President Shimon Peres addressed the crowd, which organizers put at 70,000 and police at 20,000.

“The bullets that hit the gay community at the beginning of the week struck us all as people, as Jews, as Israelis,” Peres said.

“All people were created in God’s image,” he added, “and all citizens have equal rights. All men are born equal, and every citizen has the right to be who he is — to be free and proud.

Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Meretz lawmaker Nitzan Horowitz, who is gay, were among those attending the rally.

Popular Israeli musicians Rita, Dana International, Ninet Tayeb and Amir Fay Guttman performed at the gathering.

Threats of grenade attacks were made to rally transportation organizers in Haifa and Beersheba during the day on Saturday.

Isn’t It Terrorism When Victims Are Gay?

Saturday evening in Tel Aviv a masked gunman entered the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association building around 11 p.m., made his way to the basement where adolescents were holding a weekly support meeting, and opened fire. The gunman murdered a 26-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl and wounded 15 others, most of them minors, four of them seriously, Haaretz is reporting. And fled.

Police, amazingly were quick to dismiss any suggestion that it was a terrorist attack. As Haaretz had it in an early report, “Israel Police said that the incident at the club on Nahmani Street did not have a terror motive.” The line was later edited out of the story, but subsequent stories, like one in The Times, reflect an even stranger attempt on Israeli authorities’ part to downplay any hint of incendiary motives behind the murders: “Tel Aviv police chief Shachar Ayalon stopped short of branding the shooting a hate crime remarks to reporters.”

Read the entire post at: About.com!

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