About the Tel Aviv Gay Shooting

I have no doubt that the GLBT community of Israel feels under attack today, as do many others who support their struggle for full equality all over Israel. It’s why I too am wearing a rainbow avatar on my Facebook page today.

Following blog posts and tweets today, seems like most of us, liberal pro-gay left-wingers have come to the conclusion that the murder was carried out by a fanatic religious Jewish person with a right-wing anti-gay agenda.

While this remains a very likely possibility, I don’t like how people seem to be rushing into conclusions. All we have to rely on is eye witness accounts about the shooter being “all dressed in black and wearing a black mask”. Ok, so it’s true that ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews wear black – but that does not mean this one was necessarily that. It’s possible that the killer just liked black – after all black masks aren’t standard among Haredim either.

What’s more, while such people have used violence before, I can’t recall any instance of shooting at other Jews before. If this was a Haredi attack, I would expect them to burn down the club when it’s empty – not barge in and shoot people. Historically, attacks from right-wing/religious fanatics never occured in Tel Aviv – only in Jerusalem and other areas.

What I’m trying to say is – it’s too soon to come to any conclusions, IMO. Yes, this looks like a hate crime. No, I do not think it reflects on the Israeli society as a whole, nor do I think there is any form of “continuation” or “escalation” of right-wing violence. I could be wrong – but without any proof, I prefer not to judge entire groups and communities.

And to those who wrote so much today about the “Arabs first, now gay people”… I totally disagree with that angle. Unfortunately, it’s more than possible to be anti-Arab and pro-gay in Israel. I remember reading in a recent survey that Israeli youth displayed very tolerant and eveb supportive attitudes towards homosexuality while at the same time showing hatred and racism towards Arabs. And looking at it from the other side of things, many gay Palestinians seek and find refuge in liberal Tel Aviv, from their own people who are persecuting them. It’s a complicated situation – no black and white distinctions work here, and I would avoid using this tragic event, or abusing it perhaps, for any far-fetched analyses of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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