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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Reading Response 17
When we think of the Israeli/Palestinian issue, I believe that most people would not even let transgender, gay, lesbian or bisexual issues cross their mind in terms of the role it plays as both a solution and as part of the conflict. We so far have covered the viewpoints that the conflict takes on music, partially on politics, security, a little geography and of course, religion. I can see so many parallels that these websites present that greatly resemble and resonate with similarities between that of Palestinians being treated as unequal, and that of gays and lesbians, etc... being treated in a prejudice manner. One thing bugs me though. There is a gay pride parade every year in New York City where the population is well over 13 million people. In Jerusalem, the population is over 700,000 people, less than 1/20 the population of New York City. Yet violence emerged in an extremely quick and volatile manner against these people like the example of the ultra-orthodox man in the shortened documentary video who tried to stab and kill several people. It shows how singular minded some people can be when it comes to differences in sexuality and even gender. I posted earlier before break a picture of the wall in Jerusalem, where men are separated from the women, and it shows that not only that extreme prejudice against sexuality occurs, but between men and women.
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I definitely think you're right when you say that transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues don't even cross our minds when we think about the Israeli/Palestine conflict. Those issues seem to take a backseat and get lost in the mix of the overarching issue. I think in the United States, issues in regards to LGBTQ are starting to be noticed...and action is being taken. However, acceptance of these individuals is taking longer in places such as Jerusalem.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the GLBT issue gets lost in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The thought of gay rights in Jerusalem never even crossed my mind! I was shocked how violent a gay pride parade became in Jerusalem, with several members getting stabbed! It made me realize how much more dangerous these movements are in communities especially with the growing ultra-orthodox population. It also made me wonder how people who are ultra orthodox and so devoted to their religion, could commit such violence and harm. To me committing such acts of brutality seem to go against most religions.
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