Should gays boycott Israel?

July 17, 3:15 PMSF Gay Travel ExaminerEd Walsh

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Rainbow banners on Ibn Gabirol St. Tel Aviv.  Photo by: Ed Walsh

You may have seen my previous post from an activist who says that LGBTs should boycott Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people. 

Click here to read that post. 

Here's a repsonse on the other side of the issue from Ophir Peleg with StandWithUs:

iPRiDE is a 'StandWithUs Fellowship' project initiated by volunteers from Tel Aviv University. It was endorsed by Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, students unions and the National LGBT association.
iPRiDE aimed to show the LGBT life in Israel and the challenges the community is still facing – it was not about the Middle East conflict.

During the course of their visit our participants attended panels with key figures of the community while enjoying Tel Aviv's vibrant city life.

iPRiDE organizers reject the cynical comparison Ms. Shani made to 'apartheid'. The Israeli Arabs enjoy equal political and civil rights. Tel Aviv- Jaffa itself is a beautiful story of coexistence where Jews, Muslim and Christians live peacefully together and make a great city.

Israel is a pluralistic democratic society and the opinions expressed by Ms. Shani and her friends are example of it. LGBT's in Israel can inherit, adopt, serve openly in the military (Click here for Allies' stance cited in US gays-in-military debate <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071300016.html> ) and marriages performed overseas are legally recognized by the state. Obviously, the LGBT community is a microcosm of the Israeli society; hence it's diverse, free, equal and colorful; something that unfortunately cannot be referred to any other country in the Middle East.

There are few people who think that being pro-Israeli means that you're anti-Palestinian, and Visa-Versa. We share a more optimistic point of view.
As Mike Hamel, the chairman of the Israeli LGBT association pointed out during iPRiDE, the association does everything within its power to help Palestinian gays. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2586865820080325
When we call for human right for the Palestinian people we shall always remember their oppression under the brutal Hamas' regime in Gaza.
http://lezgetreal.com/?p=719
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_Palestinian_territories

Israel always attracts media attention from different perspectives. StandWithUs fellows of Tel Aviv University invite you to experience Israel yourself. Tel Aviv will be honored to have the people of the Bay Area joining us in our call for love, freedom and peace during Tel Aviv Pride 2010.
For more information: http://www.gaytlvguide.com/