When Hatreds Collide: Gay Youth Attacked in Tel Aviv

by Michelle . · 2009-08-09 07:51:00 UTC
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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had choice words for the perpetrators of an attack on a gay youth center in Tel Aviv last week:

"We are all created in God's image. We all have fundamental rights, the first of which is to be treated with respect by others and give [them] the same respect," he said.

"Anyone who has suffered from baseless hatred, as an individual or in a group, knows how painful and unacceptable it is. This is something we must uproot from society as much as possible," he added. "I think Israeli society has made progress toward tolerance, and I hope and feel certain that we can make further progress."

A masked gunman entered the center and fatally shot a 26 year old male counselor and a 17 year old girl, and wounded 11 others.

Particularly since the Holocaust, the Jewish community has been at the forefront of the world movement for tolerance, turning their horrific experience into a productive effort to combat hatred everywhere. Whoever this individual is, if he is a member of the Israeli Jewish community, it is beyond shameful that the lessons of his own history have been lost on him.

Elsewhere, in Israel and around the world, Jewish and LGBT communities are banding together to commemorate their loss.

(For great discussion on LGBT rights at home and abroad, check out my fellow Changester Mike Jones.)

[Photo of a rally in Tel Aviv after the shooting.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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