- checking login information
The Human Rights Cause
608,559 people care about Human Rights
Loading...Two Dead in Tel Aviv as Gunman Targets Gay Youth
In a rain of bullets, a masked gunman decked from head-to-toe in black killed two gay teenagers and wounded at least ten at an Israeli Gay and Lesbian Association club in central Tel Aviv last night. As police launch a search for the gunman it seems no one is in doubt as to the nature of these awful shootings: a hate crime against Tel Aviv’s thriving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
A citywide security clampdown is in effect today as police search for the gunman who opened fire on a basement room packed with teenagers, many of whom were minors, late yesterday evening. All gay clubs have been closed, it is reported, and police have gone on record as saying that this was not a nationalistic crime, but rather one motivated by personal bias against a group.
“The gunman shot randomly at anyone in the building,” Mickey Rosenfeld, a police spokesperson, said. “We believe this is a hate crime against the gay and lesbian community and not a terrorist act.”
The dead have not yet been named, but according to police reports those fatally wounded were a 17-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man. The assailant is thought to have been using an M-16 automatic rifle that, at close range, and “shooting indiscriminately”, would be used for maximum injury in minimal time in such a confined space as is the Gay and Lesbian Alliance building.
But far from allowing this shooting to fragment them, the LGBT community of Tel Aviv have staged immediate protest parades involving hundreds of LGBT individuals and their straight allies alike all marching together as a show of strength:
Click here to find, in full, the eye witness account from Yaniv Weizman that was touched on briefly in the news broadcast above, and can also go here to read commentary by those marching in the spontaneous parade, some of whom blame certain powerful religious groups for recently publicly condemning LGBTs.
Weizman told the BBC that he was sure the attack was premeditated and the location chosen carefully because “it’s not a place you can see outside”. The shooting has been called the worst anti-gay attack in the country’s history. The New York Times reports that the club had previously had swastikas painted on its doors.
Tel Aviv has come to be known as an extremely liberal secularist city where the gay community have been celebrated and allowed to flourish. Israel, as a whole, is much less tolerant of LGBTs however, and during Pride marches in Jerusalem there are often anti-gay protests and even violence.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically denounced the slaughter, saying, “I want to condemn the shocking murder… I want to say to the citizens of Israel — we are a democratic and tolerant country and we must respect every person as he is.”
Opposition leader Tzipi Livini, who has worked with the gay and lesbian Israeli community a number of times, added to this sentiment, saying:
“This grave incident should awaken society to rid itself of prejudice. We must accept and recognize the right of every person to live safely and with dignity.”
I could not agree more. Personally, I am both immensely saddened by this atrocity and immensely proud of the way that Tel Aviv’s LGBT citizens have refused to fragment or run scared in the wake of the lone gunman’s attack, reinforcing the ideal of community that the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv has become renowned for throughout the world.
It seems that in shooting dead two LGBT youths, the gunman made a bloody statement against the city of Tel Aviv and the liberation that the city stands for. Freedom is perhaps the highest of goals and it is fear that saps our strength in keeping that dream alive.
Today, the LGBT community of Tel Aviv have mastered their fear and shown that they are a united front, and in this way they have made something beautiful in the face of such tragedy.
Situation Update: Dead buried and more details of the enquiry come to light.
Read more: gay rights, human rights, israel, lgbt rights, tel aviv gay community, transgender rights
Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, with thanks to Mike.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
Recent Comments from Causes
Ira, I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm assuming you meant that I thought the video was too long. What…
"accidentally" my arse! And comparing abortion to the Holocaust? It's disgusting and insulting.
No, sodomy is not a civil rights issue. It is a religious issue which has no place in government. Our…
meet our writers
36 comments
+ add your ownWell, no one should be surprised by the comments made by the ignorant hateful (and not too very bright) people who have crawled out from under their respective rocks. As is their common trait, they use their religion as a weapon to attack those whom they despise, then as a shield to hide behind for protection from those very same people by having the temerity to accuse them of being anti-Christian, anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim. Sorry; that dog don't hunt.
Human sexuality, as with every other area of biology, psychology and anthropology, are informed by science - observable, measurable, reproducible reality. To take one's world view from a book written by people - yup, that's right, human beings - who thought the Earth was flat is patently absurd (I needn't even discuss the Latter Day Saints or Scientologists).
The writers of some of these charming entries may call themselves "Christians," though there is nothing - not a damn thing - Christ-like about ANY of them; others may call themselves Jews or Muslims. No matter; the fact is that they are all cut from essentially the same cloth: they are Abrahamic religions.
In any case, this nasty, boorish and hateful bile is the product of demented little minds - bigots and ignoramuses all - and not an insignificant number, by the way, lashing out, driven by a self-loathing produced by the fear-turned-to-hate of feelings long suppressed, a human trait which Shakespeare nailed down about four centuries ago: "The lady doth p
I am not an anti-gay supporter or anything but for those who are, i would just say that by killing the people who are gay, you are not just taking his life but also his only chance to come to the right path. If you think being gay is wrong, then tell those people, inform them, guide them or even lead them towards your path if you can. If being gay is a SIN then isn't MURDERING also? Infact if you think rationally than its clear that there might be a chance that being gay is not a sin, but by no means is murdering not a SIN! so for all you sinners/ murderers out there, GET UR OWN ACT TOGETHER!
I am amazed at the surprise of many - that in a ultra-violent, religiously blinded state such as this country - to discover that some loose cannons are roaming the streets with micro-agendas and big guns. You sow what you reap. Israel does not stand for peace.
I have lived with the terrible fear that my gay son will be decimated by the obscene hatred directed towards theG/L/B/T community. This act is butchery and cowardice!
If there was no one target, then I assume it wasn't over a break up. How could this stand out as anything but a hate crime. Good innocent people die because over one who can not control his or her anger or disgust. Who is anyone to judge another by their sexual orientation, color, gender, ect. Personally I like men, but it is not for me to judge others, that's Gods call not mine. We all have glass houses. No one lives life with out sin. So take care of your own back yard and leave the neighbors alone! Inhumane acts are very disturbing.
Hello 'Zero'
You must indeed be 1% to hide behind anonimity ! What are you afraid of if you have any of your convictions ? What motivates people to commit "Just a Crime ?" on persons they may not know or even if they did, they are such SPINELESS LITTLE CREATURES that they also need to HIDE BEHIND ANONYMITY ? THIS IS A HEINOUS, WITHOUT ANY EQUIVOCATION,BUTS nor IFS !!! Unfortunately I DO NOT BELIEVE IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, OTHERWISE I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THE PERPETRATOR(S) BE STRUNG UP !!
i am that 1% of course it's not a hate crime just a crime someone is dead
It's sad that religion has brought about such hate in the world. I'd love to see a day when the world can live in peace and stop hating one another for being different. The world wouldn't be nearly as beautiful if it were not for individuality. Let's learn to love and respect one another as individuals. A little compassion can go a long way. Why cultivate hate when we can cultivate love. Jesus never wrote the bible. What is left of the bible today is what the church (way past Jesus' time) put together (leaving much out)... it was all based off of fear and power. I think today if Jesus, Muhammad and all the rest were alive today, they would be upset over how twisted all their original teachings of compassion, respect, love, and fellowship of man became. The whole point has been missed...I don't think hate, war, and killing is what they meant at all... we have got it all wrong.
Miguel R
I am a horrified to Miguel that you seem to have such little regard for HUMAN LIFE, that even in the face of blatantly APOLITICAL criminality, you can still dare bring in EXTREMIST POLITICAL INSINUATIONS, no different from those of the late Kahane and his lieutenants. I HAVE CONDEMNED THE ACTIONS of the IDF , from the killing camps of Chatilla and Shabrah in Lebanon to Gaza in Palestine , but I have also condemned the massacre of innocent Israeli WOMEN, CHILDREN and non-combatant OLD-MEN in their kibbutzims, their streets , unsuspecting at sports. These are dastardly, deeds of COWARDS who will not face equally armed combatants on the battle-field, but sneak up to massacre civilians at prayer. I CONDEMNED ACTS of the IDF when it COLLECTIVELY PUNISHED even DISABLED PALESTINIANS as well as PREGNANT WOMEN who were unable to run away when they demolished their horses on them, BUT I also unreservedly CONDEMNED THE CRIMINAL who killed those 2 Israeli young men SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION. The GRAVITY OF THE CRIME IS EQUALLY SORDID , WHETHER THE HUMAN BEING IS ISRAELI or PALESTINIAN.Your cunning exploitation of this awful situation gives the impression that 'undertones' or even overtones of RACISM appear only in the SORDID ACTS of the IDF, and not those of Hamass or Fataar when this is certainly NOT th case ! It is true that the 'rot' has now set in in the once 'displined' IDF of Ben Gurion,Moshe Dayan etc . Be even handed Sir
d'Albert M
To Stephanie Friedman:
Thank you for the info. I'm sure that Israeli opinion is much more diverse than represented. But, sadly it's the actions that count and the actions of the Israeli goverment and armed forces have caused much death and destruction to innocent people. What fault or crime was committed by all those babies murded by the bombing and shooting done by the IDF during the invasion of Gaza?
login to add your comment
use your care2 login
add your comment
20