Israel Recruiting Gays, Lesbians As Unofficial Envoys To Boost Image

JERUSALEM -- When it comes to stating its case internationally, Israel is tired of playing it straight: It is recruiting gays and lesbians as unofficial envoys.

In a bid to boost its international image, the country's ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs has established a cadre of diverse volunteers who speak about Israel around the world.

In a recent post on its website, the ministry encouraged minorities and members of the gay community to step forward.

Ministry spokesman Gal Ilan said Thursday that the goal was to highlight Israel's diversity. He said when people think about Israel, the gay community is often overlooked.

There are no details yet on how many people have volunteered.

Israel has recently been promoting itself as a gay friendly oasis in an intolerant Middle East.

Comments

[Heso]

12:21 PM on 01/07/2012

"Israel has recently been promoting itself as a gay friendly oasis in an intolerant Middle East."

Israel has always been promoting itself as the only democracy in the middle east, and beside the many contradicts to this statement in its internal politics, it openly stood beside the dictatorship of Mubarak against his people.

Israel has also promoted itself as having the most "moral" army in the world, despite its many documented actions that surpass being a defensive force to being a civilians killing machine.

Now they are promoting themselves as a gay friendly oasis in middle east in an "Intolerant" middle east.

Apart from the fact that a quick "Israel gay Haaretz" google search provided some articles that painted a not so pretty picture, there is one true thing about the 3, Israel is trying to make YOU hate Middle Easterns as a whole, so when they accidentally or intentionally hurt, kill, mistreat, oppress innocent Palestinians, you feel less sympathetic for them, you think of them as bad people, not as human as you.

Isn't that how extremists brainwash others to their side ?, dehumanizing their enemies, generalizing their enemies wrongdoing on the whole population, painting them "humans" as the "problem" instead of their actions ?, thereby making the newly brainwashed less resistive to the extremists actions and even supportive ?...

[Galilee]

09:52 AM on 01/08/2012

So please tell us how Arabs treat gays?
By jailing and abusing them.

[Galilee]

08:28 AM on 01/07/2012

Why couldn't Arafat be "gay friendly"?

[ProbStat]

03:31 PM on 01/06/2012

Why not?

Israel is already sucking up to antisemitic Christians, who support Israel only so that End Times can begin and the Jews given the choice of accepting Christ or facing eternal damnation.

Compared to that, promoting Israel as gay-friendly is a breath of fresh air.

[Nwo2012]

12:33 PM on 01/06/2012

Lipstick on a pig

[JacksonJones]

01:33 PM on 01/06/2012

I think it is insensitive to call gays or lesbians that, whether they wear lipstick or not.

[Gui Montag]

01:59 PM on 01/06/2012

He's a Palestinian supporter, what do you expect.

[Nwo2012]

05:39 PM on 01/06/2012

I agree, and I wouldn't dream of it.

[Scottishnproud]

02:09 PM on 01/06/2012

Ah yes we remember now. According to u lot Jews come from pigs and apes. Ah well at least ur consistent with ur infantile,hatred

[Scottishnproud]

06:43 PM on 01/06/2012

For example, in a weekly sermon in April 2002, Al-Azhar Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the highest-ranking cleric in the Sunni Muslim world, called the Jews "the enemies of Allah, descendants of apes and pigs."[1]

In one of his sermons, Saudi sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, imam and preacher at the Al-Haraam mosque – the most important mosque in Mecca – beseeched Allah to annihilate the Jews. He also urged the Arabs to give up peace initiatives with them because they are "the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the violators of pacts and agreements, the murderers of the prophets, and the offspring of apes and pigs."[2]

"Read history," called Al-Sudayyis in another sermon, "and you will understand that the Jews of yesterday are the evil fathers of the Jews of today, who are evil offspring, infidels, distorters of [others'] words, calf-worshippers, prophet-murderers, prophecy-deniers... the scum of the human race 'whom Allah cursed and turned into apes and pigs...' These are the Jews, an ongoing continuum of deceit, obstinacy, licentiousness, evil, and corruption..."[3]

Need more?

[antigaychristianssuck]

03:14 AM on 01/06/2012

Most of Judaism has succeeded in reconciling Leviticus with the modern understanding that homosexuality is OK. Israel has been a leader in civil protections for LGBTs, recognizing marriages performed abroad, inclusion in the military, etc. Christianity is making progress in that direction but the learning curve is a little flat. Is it Jesus that makes the anti-gay Christians so slow on the uptake?

[Calamity Jack]

02:27 PM on 01/06/2012

I've always wondered if the virulent homophobia that is so widespread in the right-wing strains of Christianity was overcompensation for the obvious implications of thirteen guys spending all their time together without any girlfriends or wives. "Confirmed bachelor" is a euphmism in most cases.

[tmm77625]

04:00 PM on 01/06/2012

No, because Jesus would not have had that much of an issue with it.

If you think the Christians are slow, try Muslim countries...

http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/homosexuality.html#Islam

[Talossa]

12:27 AM on 01/06/2012

Ces Américains sont si nerveux au sujet de leur sexualité.

[HermaO]

07:41 AM on 01/06/2012

C'est pas trop le sujet ici

[FantasticFourFan]

12:22 AM on 01/06/2012

Does this mean the right wing in this country has to stop using the OT as the basis for it's argument against gays? Because if the people for whom it was written and the place for where it was written are now essentially discarding it then what exactly is the religious right's excuse for still holding onto it? You can't even make the argument that it's a cultural law at this point.

[lbsaltzman]

12:00 AM on 01/06/2012

I sincerely hope gays and lesbians are doing well in Israel. But it doesn't change the fact that Israel's occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza is criminal.

[romeu monteiro]

02:47 AM on 01/06/2012

What was criminal was the Palestinian's extermination of the Jewish population of Gaza and the West Bank in the 1940's. After that they were happy just attacking Israel from both those territories, which Israel conquered after wars of agression and extermination from Egypt and Jordan. Israel should have expelled all Jordanians of the West Bank into Jordan, like any normal country would do after being attacked. They are very lucky to still be able to live in Gaza and the West Bank, no other country in Israel's situation would let them remain there, they would either bomb them until they stoped all the attacks or expel all of them.

[lbsaltzman]

04:13 AM on 01/06/2012

I don't think your misstatements of history let Israel off the hook for subsequent crimes committed by the Israelis. The problem is the entire Zionist enterprise is based on the confused nationalistic notion that Jews from Europe had the right to steal Palestine from the indigenous population because of mistreatment of European Jews by Europeans. the mistreatment of Palestinians is going on as I right these words. Settlers go on pogroms, the IDF destroys Palestinian homes and Israel annexes more land.

[Justeden]

08:57 PM on 01/05/2012

Israel is not exploiting Gay people. Gay people have more freedom in Israel than in 99% of all countries. Should Israel hide that?
Also, Israel has more Arab citizens who vote and get elected in free election that most Arab countries.
Arabs are member of the Parliament, Ambassadors, ministers and officers in the IDF. ....this is the inconvenient truth.

[Rosin the Bow]

10:09 PM on 01/05/2012

It's not exploiting, it's asking.

[Yuval Laor]

06:41 PM on 01/06/2012

Israel has a segregated school system, where the students in the Arab schools receive 11 times less funding than students in the Jewish school system. This is regarding schools for Israeli citizens, not in the occupied territories.

Housing is also segregated.

Not only is there no Gay marriage, there is also no way for a Jew to marry a Christian or a Muslim in Israel. (they do it outside of Israel, and have it recognized)

Israel is a democracy like America was before the 60's.

[squiems]

08:15 PM on 01/07/2012

The arabs requested their school system be segregated so that they could control their education.

Just as in america, education funding is arranged at a municipal level. Arab (and ultra-orthodox) jewish municipalities tend to be poorer and thus have less education funds. Something israel is attempting to address and fix.

Housing is NOT segregated. I'm not jewish and when I was there, my building included arabs and jews.

The marriage laws are pretty backwards, I'll give you that.

[countrycontemplative]

07:05 PM on 01/05/2012

Maybe Israel will influence their American allies. That would be a very worthwhile trend.

[Seawolf56]

06:31 PM on 01/05/2012

So they can get married??? Oi Vey!!

[Vlady]

08:57 PM on 01/05/2012

Yeah, one seawolf can marry another seawolf. Take a note and find your pair

[Seawolf56]

10:10 PM on 01/05/2012

I knew you lived there!! And good for you... Sooooo Tellllll me whats your hubby do???

[anton123]

03:49 PM on 01/06/2012

Vlady got you nicely ;-)

[Skeptical Cicada]

05:26 PM on 01/05/2012

I'm sick and tired of propagandists for the right-wing Likud government and its settler fanatics trying to exploit my sexual orientation to advance its oppression of Palestinians.

[Vlady]

08:59 PM on 01/05/2012

>>exploit my sexual orientatio­n to advance its oppression of Palestinia­ns

You can exploit in Gaza instead

[romeu monteiro]

02:49 AM on 01/06/2012

Yes, the same Palestinians that think that you, along with Jews in general, should be put to death.

[lbsaltzman]

04:14 AM on 01/06/2012

Finger pointing doesn't lessen Israeli crimes.

[HermaO]

07:34 AM on 01/06/2012

It's not an eye for an eye anymore

[mrld20]

05:08 PM on 01/05/2012

They've got same sex common law marriage there!!! :DDDD

[h111aryc1inton]

05:06 PM on 01/05/2012

It is my understanding that the IDF has does not and has never discriminated against gays in the military.

This would seem like just another smart marketing plan...

[Calamity Jack]

08:40 PM on 01/05/2012

Does the IDF allow spousal privileges for the partners of gay and lesbian soldiers? I tried to look it up but have not been able to find any information on the issue online. Instead I only found critisism of the US for not allowing those benefits, so any information (prefereabl with citation) would be appreciated.

[h111aryc1inton]

08:29 AM on 01/06/2012

Sorry Jack - I do not have any idea - my guess is...it would be in the form of "partner status"