HOMOPHOBIC pronouncements by Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Shas party as well as by Arab groups are being blamed for the horrifying machine-gun attack yesterday on a gay community centre in Tel Aviv.
Two young people were killed and several others were wounded when a gunman burst into the centre in the heart of Tel Aviv and opened fire with a machine gun.
Police at the scene of yesterday's shooting
The injured were rushed to the Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) in Tel Aviv. Two were listed in critical condition, while three additional people were moderately hurt.
Police launched a massive manhunt for the perpetrator, who according to eyewitnesses was dressed in black.
Hundreds of local residents gathered around police lines, and tearful members of the local gay community wandered around the scene looking traumatized.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said police had stepped up security around other gay centers and potential targets.
Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said
This is a most severe incident. The police are investing major resources and means to capture this murderer and his accomplices.
“These were teenagers,” Yaniv Weisman, chairman of the Israeli Gay Youth organization, told The Jerusalem Post.
With tears in his eyes, Weisman added
They came to this center from across the country to talk to one another and receive help. This was supposed to be a safe place for them. Someone knew what they were doing when they came here. This is not a pub or a club.
Within a couple of hours of the shooting spree hundreds of members of the city’s gay and lesbian community gathered with placards and candles to protest the killings, while Shas was accused by some of inciting the attack.
Danny Zak, a gay activist and journalist said:
I warned in a column last year that Israel is a place which, on the one hand has liberal laws, but on the other does not attempt to counter homophobia. A murder was waiting to happen.
The Shas party has the blood of two innocent kids on their hands. Shas has blamed gays for earthquakes and diseases. This is incitement, but no one is put on trial for it.
Last year, former Shas MK Shlomo Benizri said that homosexual behavior was the cause of earthquakes.
During a special Knesset session on seismic activity, Benizri – recently sentenced to four years in jail for corruption – proposed that the Knesset “find a way to prevent mishkav zachar [sexual relations between men], and thus save [us] a lot of earthquakes.”
Meretz MK Nitzan Horovitz, added:
There has been non-stop incitement. I very much hope this is not the result of comments made by public figures and Knesset members. They need to understand that some people will take action …
I get weekly complaints from people in various sectors, mainly haredi and Arab, of threats, discrimination and attacks. If you just take a look at certain web sites and talkbacks, hear the public discourse and hear what educators say, you are shocked by the level of incitement.
Shas released a statement following the shooting in which it called for the attacker:
To be found and tried. Murder is of course against the Torah’s path and every attack is a contravention of the religion of Israel.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 am
Obviously, the problem is not religion. The problem is that people don't like homosexuals. That will never change. Get used to it.
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:47 am
Obviously, the problem is religion. The problem is that religions don't like homosexuals. That will never change. Get rid of them.
Get used to it! What a defeatist attitude.
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:49 am
Oh. So if I "don't like" left-handed people it's okay for me to spray them with bullets then, is it? I'm glad we got that one ironed out at last!!
August 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
How many with gay tendancies do not 'come out'. A teacher once separated her class with children who had brown eyes and those with blue eyes and asked them what made them a better person, they realised that these were their friends and whatever colour their eyes were they were the same.
Bigots will now come out of the woodwork. to say horrible things about others, without looking in the mirror at themselves.
I have many best friends who are gay, love them to bits.
Religion breeds hate..
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Surely the most that can be said on the evidence we have is that we don’t know. Is it possible that this is the work of a fanatic who hates gays for religious reasons? Yes. But this wasn’t the case with David Copeland, who bombed the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street – he hated gays as part of his twisted ultra-right philosophy.
Some people hate gays. Some of these are religiously motivated. Many people, thankfully, have no problem with gays. Some of these are religious. These issues are not black and white.
I’m not saying that there is no link in this case. I’m saying that, on the evidence we have right now, we haven’t enough to go on.
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
What do you mean 'people don't like homosexuals'. I thought that homosexuals were also classed as 'people'. Maybe what you meant to say was that 'indoctrinated, ignorant bigots don't like homosexuals'. And it won't ever change if one's attitude is 'get used to it'.
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
There are plenty of people who are neither religious nor "ultra-right" who are afflicted with homophobia. Homophobia is something that defies classification. Until the perpetrator of this horrible crime is found, it is wrong to assume that he or she has any political or religious leanings at all, much less to speculate on what those may be.
August 2nd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
A few hours after this attack, Israel evicted nine Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers. A state based on the idea of favouring one religious group over another is bound to lead to violence and destruction.
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Religion is always a problem: look behind bigotry and usually you'll find religion lurking as the cause. We do not know for certain if this attack was as result of some twisted religionist but I'll bet it was.
I'm queer and I'm often here, so you get used to it skype gates!
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:24 pm
The suggestion that homophobia is not derived from religion is doublethink. That a homophobe might not recognise religion as the basis of his hatred does not change the reality that it is. I will not say that there can be no such a thing as a nontheist homophobe. But if there is, he is deluding himself that he has not been godphuqt by the taboos of the majority. This is equally true of persons who view non-procreational sibling recreation as a "sin" called unchastity ("incest"), or non-procreational partner swapping as a "sin" called adultery, or casual recreation as an act of questionable morality called fornication.
If an action does not unnecessarily hurt a nonconsenting victim, it is not immoral. Anyone who thinks otherwise has been godphuqt, whether he assocates his taboos with religion or not.
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I am, frankly, amazed at your attitude Skype Gates! You link us to the site the Root, and yet you say that we need to "get used" to the fact that gays are the pariahs of society! You are aware, I take it, of the attitude that used to prevail towards black people not so many years ago, especially in South Africa and the United States? My father visited SA during the war, whilst serving in the Navy, and couldn't believe the situation there! I remember the Sixties well, and the Civil Rights movement in America, which has done so much to improve things there. There may still be prejudice, but at least they have a black President at last!! And as far as attitudes towards gays are concerned, things have also changed out of all proportion since I was a young man. There may still be a long way to go – largely due to the efforts of bigotted, backward, ignorant religiots like Benizri – but things are changing for the better, and the fight goes on!!!
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Spot on Cleggman
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Some of my best friends have got blue and Brown eyes
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Have you seen this article going on about Jewish homophobia?
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...../sc…
Those who talk bollocks about how sharia law should be allowed because we have Beth Din need to be made aware that Beth Din isn't benign.
There was never a valid case to be made for sharia, let's not allow its apologists to get away with their shite claims any longer.
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I think the Highland Scots must be particularly admirable people: first their lack of brutality to dogs and I watched a programme on two gay men who moved from London to the Isle of Harris. They had a tough time but the support from their Scottish neighbours on that island was what the islanders apparently offer to anyone. The shame is that we still find this something to comment on. The Quakers have decided to marry same sex partners. (I think I heard that.)
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Very probably an homophobic crime, but wait to find the perpetrator. to say you're 100%sure that religion'sd involved (and which religion)
Homophobia has religious origins, in the patriarchal religions, mut many human excrements hate homosexuals because they fear they caould be. In brief, they're paranoid psychopaths.
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:29 am
No, religion is not to blame. Does that help you out, Barry? Quit blaming evil acts on religion. Evil happens because of evil, not religion.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:55 am
If you don't like homosexuals, do something about it. Might I suggest you start with suicide?
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:38 am
I agree.
If God and the Bible tell us to do it then it can't be evil.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Every good Christian knows that Gays have a choice in their lifestyle and they are only gay to annoy God.
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
I do agree with what you are saying here, av, but the roots of homophobia in the Western world undoubtedly lie in prohibitions brought in under Jewish law, about 2,500 years ago. Dr Harwood has elaborated on this in previous posts (qv). This gunman may not have been religiously motivated, but anyone who doubts that his underlying homophobia isn't, is displaying woeful ignorance of history!
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 am
Good point there, Sister Talitha! And here's another one: all the apologists for these blood-thirsty religiots keep telling us that these death sentences were hardly ever carried out over hundreds of years (if you can believe that), so if that is the case, the Jewish leaders were for centuries flouting the clear commandments of their God, who ordered them to behave in this manner!! Doh!!!
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:56 am
I knew I'd heard of Shlomo Benizri before! He was the cunt who said of Dana International: "The Eurovision Song Contest interests me about as much as the weather in Antarctica, but as a son of the Jewish people (his transsexuality) offends me." (Oh, no – not "offended" again!!) He also evidently said on another occasion: "I just don't understand why a restaurant needs a slant-eye to serve me my meal." I wonder whether he has similar views to Prince Philip on Hungarians, deaf people, and the Scots!!!
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:59 am
I suggest that growing up in a religious environment that sees homosexuality as inherently bad, could affect an individual's thinking on the subject without them consciously linking their views with 'faith'.
As long as religion is favoured by the state as the moral signpost for the young, considered & rational viewpoints will be that much harder for individuals to arrive at; It might not be the case that religion was the reason for this attack, but It may well have contributed to a world view that saw this act as desirable.
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
That's exactly what I was saying, rog. We won't know until this individual is apprehended just what his motivation was, but in the West we live in a society whose laws and social mores have been shaped by Judaism and its bastard child, Christianity. Islam, too, embraces homophobic ideas, because that mental case Mohammed really did think that he was on a divine mission to "unite" these two faiths. The prohibitions on homosexual behaviour were the invention of Jewish Rabbis in relatively recent times, and nothing to do with Moses or "natural law"!!
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I thought this incurable motherfucker had been flushed. Why is his verbal diarrhea still being posted?
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
William, provided his contributions don't descend into repetitive proselytizing, Tom Estes has as much right to post here as you do.
Your comment was unnecessarily abusive.
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I wouldn't say it was *unnecessarily* abusive, have you looked at his blog?
"I also believe that in the same way that true science debunks the THEORY of evolution, true logic and rationality can come to only one conclusion: GOD EXISTS. It's time for us to free the terminology that has been hijacked by the anti-God left."
unless it's a piss take
in which case well done for sending the nutters up!
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
My bad – sorry to repeat you!
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:46 pm
His comments ARE repetitive proselytizing. That is my point. Scholars welcome reasoned disputations. "I'm right and you're wrong" does not qualify.
Do not feed the troll.
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Load of rubbish Tom. I must respect your views, but religion tells you,especially in the bible, to perpertrate evil. If you do evil in the name of religion you are told thats ok in the bible.
I agree it may not be religion that caused this evil act, but that is what the church says that you are bad .
Did not Jesus accompany many men on his travels., so was he gay. No-one can disapprove this.
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Load of rubbish Tom. I must respect your views, but religion tells you,especially in the bible, to perpertrate evil. If you do evil in the name of religion you are told thats ok in the bible.
I agree it may not be religion that caused this evil act, but that is what the church says that you are bad if you are gay..
Did not Jesus accompany many men on his travels., so was he gay. No-one can disapprove this.
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Let me quote from a forthcoming book :- "When a fundamentalist Protestant named Tim Estes, on a website called Hardtruth.net, wrote a scathing indictment of Catholic dogma, I was not willing to form a temporary alliance with such a [expletive deleted] by suggesting that he was one iota less deranged than Joseph Ratzinazi…. Propagandists for religion are, not always unintentionally, contributing to the extermination of the human race."
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
“Scholars welcome reasoned disputations”
It would probably help if the person that you are debating with conceded the possibility that they could be proved wrong, by rational argument or evidence.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I wasn't criticising you – just agreeing! Keep posting!!
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Thanks David. At least one of you is normal.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Cheers,
I suppose that one of the issues with religion is that the ethical codes that they put forward have an element of 'natural morals' contained within them; I don't for a second suggest that these ideas would not have been arrived at anyway and in all probability preceded those texts by a couple of hundred thousand years in some form – it is when they add in dogmatic taboos that problems arise…
But that's the trick isn't it – tell people what they, on the whole might have agreed with and then twist the moral code to your own ends.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:05 am
I don't think that a person who's profession is to convince gullible people of the literal truth of fairy tales is in anyway qualified to be the judge of normal.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:46 am
If the intellectually bankrupt, educationally handicapped, rationally depraved, morally autistic, intestinally challenged, scientifically illiterate, godphuqt, unteachable Manchurian Candidate whose sadistic parents named him T.esticles wants to prove that a Scientific Theory is mere speculation, I recommend that he test the Theory of Gravity by jumping out of an airplane from 3,000 meters. If he does not fall to his death, he will thereby demonstrate that science is indeed a collection of wild guesses. And if he is killed by the fall, he will thereby reduce the number of dog-collared parasites fleecing the gullible in the name of an imaginary Sky Fuhrer. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:24 am
We're talking about a guy here whose latest blog offering is a video of "Aquatic Ape" Elaine Morgan (the nutty feminist fiction writer who, according to him is "a scientist, a really smart scientist with lots of peer-reviewed papers and tests and retests", none of which is true!) under the banner ATHEIST SCIENTIST DISPROVES EVOLUTION (also completely untrue)!! I rest my case!!!
August 4th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
"I recommend that he test the Theory of Gravity by jumping out of an airplane from 3,000 meters"
Best case scenario angels manifest themselves and carry him to ground safely, worst case he goes straight to heaven – I can't see a reason for him not to try it.
How's that for a "Renaissance of Rational Thinking"?
August 4th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
The Aquatic Ape Theory, defended but not originated by Elaine Morgan, stands or falls on the validity of Darwin's explanation of evolution by natural selection. In a tropical environment requiring human ancestors to spend their waking hours in water, those who by a random mutation were born with survival factors shared with cetaceans but not with land animals, such as a layer of subcutaneous fat, produced the most offspring until the mutation generalized through the whole population. No alternative explanation for human-cetacean similarities has ever been proposed.
If a creationist indeed cited Morgan's books in support of the god hypothesis, then either he has not read them or he misread them. The same is true of anyone who dismisses Aquatic Ape Theory as unscientific. Unproven it certainly is, and the absence of a break in the fossil record when such a development could have occurred may prove to be its fatal flaw. But disproven it is not, and unscientific it is not.
Since this is clearly off-topic, and alternative viewpoints have now been presented, no further comment from either perspective can be justified.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I wasn't actually debating this brand-new, exciting hypothesis re the origins of mankind there, Dr H. (I remember first looking into it as a science student in the Sixties, but, as you so rightly say, that is another matter!) What I was drawing attention to was the fact that T. Estes has posted a video on his blog of a lecture by someone of whom he has absolutely no knowledge, and is claiming that she has somehow "disproved Evolution"!! This, sadly, displays the usual intellectual rigour of fundamentalists, who will clutch at any old straw to back up their barmy ideas!
August 5th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Barrie,
You have to remember that his blog is aimed at people who's IQ would have to double to get into triple digit territory; they are already convinced of their 'truth' and these flimsy titbits are there to bolster their conviction, not to persuade reasonable people based on evidence.
August 5th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Not necessarily, Rog. I used to be one of them, and I think I'm reasonably intelligent! It's when you are intelligent that you desperately need some sort of "evidence" to back up your totally irrational "faith". I had a whole library of books which supposedly confirmed the history, archaeology and science of the Bible, and if that's all you read then you can quite happily go along with it all, I'm afraid. In fact, believers are actively discouraged from flirting with ideas critical of the Bible in case their faith is undermined!!
August 5th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I suppose I take that view because I never believed, not in the god stuff anyway… I do remember at school a lot of religious events being quoted as historical fact – when I realised that this wasn't even nearly true I felt quite jaded towards my teachers!