The moment when this point hit me was when I was on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem, taking a break from enjoying the night life on a bench, when a loud group with flags marched past me and handed me a flier.
The group, called the Coalition of Pink Communities, was rallying in support of equal rights for those with alternative lifestyles, with the flier specifically mentioning “lesbians, homosexuals, transgenders, bisexuals, queer, intersex.”
The fact that this even occurred, in the holy city of Jerusalem no less, is proof that such equal rights have been granted. The demonstrators were not harassed, attacked, or even approached in any way, despite the presence of Orthodox Jewish onlookers.
This stands in sharp contrast to anywhere in the Palestinian territories or Arab world, where such actions would be met with brutality of the highest order. Israel, which stands alone as the country most derided by human rights advocates daring to call themselves liberals, has upheld freedom of speech and shown a tolerance of homosexual lifestyles in a way deserving of far-reaching liberal praise, allowing openly gay centers to operate and known homosexual soldiers to serve.
To be fair, I must mention the murder of two homosexuals in Tel Aviv while I was in the country, but the genuine outcry over the incident and extensive media coverage show that this was a rare incident, worthy of conversation and attention, rather than an act of normalcy.
This scenario alone should dispel the notion that Israel’s status as a Jewish state makes it theocratic, but this democratic country is still frequently referred to as “apartheid” on college campuses, an insult that denigrates the true victims of apartheid, both in the past in South Africa and those suffering from true oppression in the Arab world.
Rarely is the gender apartheid in major parts of the Islamic world or the oppression of gays, dissenting political voices, non-Muslims (especially Jews), and Muslim minorities in such areas a cause for a fuss.
The apartheid comparison is so wrong on so many levels that using it should disqualify the users from being termed “academics” or “experts.” Few seem to know that twenty percent of Israeli citizens are Arabs, given the same rights as their fellow Jewish countrymen. They are provided with social services, serve in the military, and even are elected to the Knesset.
The security “wall,” 97% of which is chain-link fence, is often touted as proof of Israel’s racism, but it is not designed to separate Jewish and Palestinian communities. Read more here ...
Source: Pajamas Media
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