Last year I begged you to go to Jerusalem. A year is gone, and nothing has changed. Not that I'm naive enough to think all our problems can be solved within a year, but still, one can hope..
Lately I find myself on websites and forums and talkbacks and message boards, trying to explain, trying to inform. My biggest frustration comes not from the religious types (though, Lord knows, they are frustrating), but from the secular people, the ones who call themselves liberal, and most frustrating of the lot - the gays themselves. Ignorance is bliss, says the old line, but though that may be true for the ignorant himself, it is a bitch for the rest of us who have to live with him. Phrases like "I'm chiloni, but..", "consider the feelings of...", "but why Jerusalem?", "why the noise?", "I'm straight and I don't parade about it", etc., are pure slogans and cliches, without any actual coherent thought behind them, and without appreciation to how far the gay community has come, where it started out just a few short years ago, and how far there is still to go.
The first Pride Parade took place in 1970, in New York. It was an event meant to commemorate the Stonewall riots. Until then, the gay community was beaten down, harassed, heckled, and hassled, and it was the normal and accepted thing to do. Things like this were not as crazy as they seem to us now, but just as common as an anti drugs campaign. Pride marks and commemorates the first active organization of the gay community, the first time they collectively refused to just accept the way they are treated just because of who they were.
Pride Parade takes many shapes and forms. In places like Amsterdam it is a big wonderful party. That's because there is no political or social oppression of the community there, and they are free to just celebrate the anniversary of the liberation movement. In places like Moscow, Warsaw and, yes, Jerusalem - the parade is still a political and social demonstration first and foremost.
Why Jerusalem? Why not just be happy and satisfied with Tel Aviv?
Because Gay people do not have equal rights in Israel, and because Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It's as simple as that. With all respect to religion and holiness, they have no business influencing the decisions and actions of a state's capital. When Viki Knafo started marching, she didn't march to Haifa - she marched to Jerusalem. The "cripples" protest was done in Jerusalem. There are many more examples, but I think you get the point.
This new law which is being passed, and which intends to enable the prevention of protests for religious reasons and meant to stop the parade (and by the way, once passed will also be able to prevent any other secular event the religious authorities don't like), is the true abomination. It is an affront to the democracy Israel is pretending to be. I think that if the roles of Jerusalem as holy religious city and as capital cannot be separated, then Jerusalem should not be our capital.
This turned out longer than I intended, so I'm going to stop now.
But please, go to Jerusalem.
בבלוג זה
בכל הבלוגים
