By way of introduction to this version of gay Israel the story starts with a commentary on WorldPride held in Jerusalem August 2006 during the war with Hezbollah. It speaks to the difficulties that the Pride hosts encountered and the layers of conflict that seem indelible in Israeli culture today. This story goes beyond WorldPride
Israel is the world’s only Jewish state. It is considered one of the most advanced countries in the Middle East in economic and industrial development. In 2007, Israel had the 22nd-highest gross domestic product per capita of US$33,299. The country is considered the most progressive and tolerant country in the Middle East in terms of gay rights. Common law marriage has already been achieved (which grants most of the official marriage rights to the spouse), but full official gay marriage has not yet been sanctioned. However, same-sex marriages performed elsewhere are recognized. Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Cyprus are the only countries in the Middle East where homosexuality between consenting adults in private is not illegal and homosexuals are not persecuted under law. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where homosexuals are protected by anti-discrimination laws. Read More. Also see: Islam and Homosexuality.
Name: Israel
Population: 7282000
Capital: Jerusalem - Pop. 747600
Area: 20770 sq. km/ sq. miles
Language: Hebrew, Arabic, English
Religion: Judaism
Status of Homosexuality: Legal
Telephone Country Code: 972
Gay Israel 2002: More Stories from the Land of Milk and Agony: Israeli and Palestinian Gays
Three poignant stories from online magazines about gay living and loving in a land torn by tribal warfare.
Gay Israel 2000: Alert and Alive
Intro: Tal Weisberg-Bloch, a gay activist in Haifa, manned the Gay hotline one night as I talked with him about queer life in Israel. Here in the eye of the Arab middle east, under the guns of enemies, surrounded by Torah-thumping Orthodox Jews, inside a conservative and straight secular society–this ‘out and loud’ gay man was pleased to tell us about the significant gains for homosexuals in Israel over the past ten years. A box inside a box inside a box; yet it appears this smallest and innermost cell, the gay community, is also the most liberated and open minded of all the containers that compete for life in this desert land.