Being A Gay Palestinian In Israel

TEL AVIV TURNS 100 – and on being a gay Palestinian in Israel:

Every few weeks, gay Arab men from all over Israel gather for a party at a rented nightclub on Tel Aviv’s Herzl Street. The highlight of the evening is a drag show, with heavily made-up amateur performers dressed as sexy, pouting Arab pop stars. They are followed by Raafat, a performance artist from Jaffa, who lip-syncs old-fashioned Palestinian nationalist songs. Nearly all these men lead double lives; if they were to reveal their sexual orientation in their conservative communities, they would risk ostracism or even death. But in Tel Aviv they are free to celebrate their Palestinian, gay identity — at a club located on a street named after the founder of modern Zionism.

Keep reading this great piece by Lisa Goldman.

Spotter: BarcePundit

Nizo has more:

And so I spotted the khara that was about to fly when I read about the children from the Jenin refugee camp who went to Israel to perform before an audience of Holocaust survivors. Had this happened 10 years ago, a more naïve version of yours truly would have defecated on himself in excitement, but in these post-Oslo days I’m so jaded, I tend to look at such events as helpful yet minuscule reminders to the world that we may one day evolve from clans of howling and screeching antagonistic Neanderthals who have no concept of PR, into slightly more PR-savvy clans of howling and screeching Cro-magnons.

Predictably enough, instead of advertising the event worldwide as a goodwill gesture towards a neighbour or at least shutting up about it and allowing it to be perceived as such, I read today that the Palestine Authority dismantled the orchestra and banned the Israeli Arab conductor from accessing the Jenin camp.

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, April 2009 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink