Jerusalem Open House:
Where Jews and Arabs find ways to mix peacefully
in the Holy Land
By Peter Cassels
In the heart of Jerusalem, the holy city torn by age-old
animosities, the rainbow flag is sending a powerful message, according
to those who placed it there. Flying over a pedestrian mall that's been
the target of terrorist bombs, the international symbol of Gay Pride shows
that Jews, Christians and Muslims can live together in harmony.
The flag hangs from a window at Jerusalem Open House
(JOH), the city's GLBT center that opened three years ago on the third
floor of a building on Ben-Yehuda Street, where 11 young people were killed
and 188 injured last Dec. 1 by two suicide bombers. The terrorist group
Hamas claimed responsibility for the explosions, one at a pizzeria, the
other in a car parked at a nearby street corner.
The attack was part of the Palestinian intifada, or
uprising, that has killed hundreds of Israelis and injured many others
since it began more than 18 months ago to protest the nation's occupation
of territory won in the 1967 Six Day War. The terrorism prompted Israel
to mount a counteroffensive that sent armed troops into the West Bank
and virtually imprisoned Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat. The military
action has resulted in more casualties on both sides. Thus far, the crisis
has eluded resolution, even by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who
recently returned from a Mideast peace mission empty-handed.
Yet in Jerusalem, an icon for three of the world's
great religions, the gay and lesbian community center stands as a beacon
of hope where Jewish and Palestinian gays participate in activities together,
united by their sexuality. JOH offers diverse programs and promotes dialogue
between the city's various communities, religious and secular, gay and
straight. Although 99 percent of its 200 members are Jewish, many Palestinian
Israelis also visit. The JOH in December added an outreach coordinator
for them to its staff of five, one of many firsts for a gay organization
in the region.
"The [center] remains one of the few places that
reflects the possibility that still exists for normality in Jerusalem,
for life, for people to be able to live together," JOH Executive
Director Hagai El-Ad said in an interview. "That's a statement that
echoes way beyond the gay community."
El-Ad was in the United States to promote the JOH
and solicit contributions. The American Friends of the Jerusalem Open
House, a recently formed fundraising group, is helping coordinate the
visit, which included stops in Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
First Gay Pride March
The latest challenge to the gay community center's
standing as a symbol of hope for peace is its decision to sponsor Jerusalem's
first Gay Pride parade June 7, the centerpiece of Pride Month events in
the city. Others include a gay Arabic writing competition, parties and
concerts.
Some government officials and religious groups have
vowed to prevent the march. "This parade will not happen in Jerusalem,"
Deputy Mayor Shmuel Shkedi has said. "We will not let any sickness
and deviance take place in the city. The very existence of these people
is a provocation, their existence is uncivilized, and especially in my
capacity as [being] responsible for education I say, 'All diseases must
be clearly fought against, so everyone understands what is sick and what
is normal in our society.' This thing must be condemned."
Orthodox Jews, too, have spoken out against the event:
"Naturally, we strongly condemn this idea. The way these people chose
isn't the way of the world, isn't natural, and we see it as utterly wrong
and shameful. Everything they do is repulsive."
It is not the city's political or religious leaders
who must okay the parade, but the police, El-Ad points out: "They've
been dragging their feet over the last weeks. They are trying to pass
on the hot potato, as you say, to the municipality, but the municipality
has no say on who is allowed to march where."
So far, the JOH has the support of the Association
for Civil Rights in Israel (the nation's counterpart to the American Civil
Liberties Union) among others. Asked whether the march would provoke further
terrorism, threatening the safety of participants and spectators, El-Ad
says demonstrations have continued throughout the country during the intifada
and none has been interrupted by violence. "They could easily use
the excuse of security, but that would be complete hypocrisy because demonstrations
are held by the extreme Right or extreme Left and everyone in between
and they get approval," he explains. Besides, the parade wouldn't
be political: "Obviously Gay Pride isn't associated with any specific
view. It's a chance to celebrate the humanity and diversity of Jerusalem."
Public demonstrations like a Pride parade are actually
encouraged in the only nation in the region that has total freedom of
speech. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Ulmert recently expressed the need for a
massive march in the center of the city to show its citizens and the world
that life goes on, El-Ad mentions. "It's difficult for me to think
of a more appropriate event than Gay Pride to celebrate life in Jerusalem
and to do it in a way that is relevant and meaningful to the current situation."
Approval could come as late as the day before the
event, so the JOH is operating as if it will proceed. "We have no
other choice," El-Ad asserts. He adds that organizers chose "Love
Without Borders" as the parade slogan: "In the most direct way,
it expresses what the [JOH] is. We hope that there will be gays and lesbians
coming to the parade from religious and orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem
in the same way that they come to the Open House. This is our honest and
natural attempt to bring what we are doing on a daily basis even in the
current carnage." Marketing the event is already under way. The first
advertisement ran in the April 19 edition of the city's Hebrew weekly
newspaper.
El-Ad acknowledges that the crowd attending the Jerusalem
event is expected to be smaller than the 50,000 to 100,000 that attended
last year's Gay Pride parade in Tel Aviv. "My expectations are [that]
between 100 and 1,000 will march. We expect many thousands to watch."
Like anywhere, building attendance is a slow process, he explains. "Tel
Aviv is much more secular, yet when its Pride celebration started five
years ago organizers expected 500 people and 2,000 came." The Israeli
capital will hold its sixth parade June 28.
Reaching Out and Coming Out
As an example of its policy of inclusivity, the JOH
has placed on its Pride calendar another first for Jerusalem's gay community
- a half-day conference on June 6 conducted completely in Arabic. It follows
the center's first meeting of Palestinian gays and lesbians in early May.
Palestinian outreach coordinator Haneen Maikey is getting the word out
through a gay Palestinian e-mail list, one of the ways to reach members
of that community who don't visit the center. "Obviously we are doing
our best to make them aware," El-Ad says. "And if they cannot
participate they hopefully will express their support. We're looking for
a location. We thought it would be more symbolic in a place on the line
between East and West Jerusalem, but there's difficulty in getting a venue.
People are careful when they decline. They have a hesitation, a fear,
about being associated with the gay community or an event that includes
the gay Palestinians."
There's a reason why only a tiny percentage
of JOH members are Palestinian, El-Ad explains: "We're a registered
nonprofit in Israel. We need to abide by rules and regulations. According
to Israeli law, you need to submit your name and address to become a member.
Obviously, these lists never leave the center, but for people who are
closeted, especially those that come from communities where one is outed
against one's will, reaction is very extreme. We certainly want to get
people to join our membership ranks, but it is very clear that everyone
can use our services without regard." He reports that thousands of
people, many of them Arab, visit the center or read its monthly magazine.
Posted May 3, 2002
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