Join the Gay Parade in Jerusalem this Friday!
by Aner Ravon

I’m straight. Heterosexual. I love woman. Always did. I am also a proud Jewish patriot. Always have been.

But I will be in Jerusalem this Friday to march in the Gay Parade.

It didn’t seem like that much of a big deal to me a few months ago. The Gay community is so liberated in Israel anyway, why cause such a fuss? Or so I thought.

The recent upheaval of violence, threats, supreme court appeals and intimidation of law officers proved me sooo wrong. Members of the parliament have gone silent. The police have gone scared and pushed to cancel the parade on the account of ”not being able to protect the marchers”. WOW! Reminds me of sick, dark ages in the history of some countries. Those who push to ban have very short memory.

It’s sad how Muslims and Jews can fight over a tiny piece of land so furiously and then suddenly hug each other when it comes to hating yet another group. I don’t think it’s evil, just ignorant. Which is exactly what public protests are for.

In a free country people have the right to express themselves, provided they don’t hurt others (and “hurting others’ feelings” does not count as hurting others!). They deserve the full protection of the law and the full support of other freedom valuers. freedom cannot be taken for granted. It’s very fragile, and I intend to fight for freedom in my countries’ capital. Make no mistake, if it were the other way around, I would have marched alongside orthodox Jews and Muslims, have no doubt.

How is that related to social gardens? Well, Web 2.0 is all about “power to the people”, “freedom of expression”, “democracy of content”, etc. is it not?

The virtual world is very much connected to the real one. I’ll be there to show support.

 

Aner Ravon
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