It is needless to say that now, as it is usual in history, there is turmoil around the “holy land” of Israel. Offering holy places for 3 of the world’s biggest religions, the ruins of Solomon’s Temple, the Dome of the Rock, and the Holy Sepulcher. Since the crusades, the 3 religions have fought over control of this land, and currently the Jewish state of Israel and the Muslim state of Palestine vie for control over the land. Violence is rampant, with terrorist attacks on Jewish centers responded to with missile strikes on supposed terrorist bases and the like.

Recently, it has been a relatively peaceful time, but tension is building, which will probably lead to another bloody conflict. But within this world of hatred and violence a new conflict is building. Recently, a series of attacks upon the homosexual community in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has rocked the open-minded communities in the region.

Most recently a lone gunman clad in black entered a gay and lesbian youth center and opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing 3 and wounding many more. The chief of police of Tel Aviv, where the shooting took place, has stopped short of calling it an assault on the gay community but has said that they are using all power possible to catch the assailant, who remains at large. This attack is not the first, however, the past few years have seen a rise in such violence, especially when they take to the streets to fight for their rights. While the persecution of gays is common in heavily religious society, I think that the general atmosphere of Israeli society has geared the youth of the nation toward this violence.

For fifty years the Jews have been fighting an entire region that means to push them out of the Palestinian lands they have settled in. For that entire period, they have geared their children towards a warlike and proud culture, heavily jingoistic and often racist towards the Palestinians and Muslims that surround their nation.
But with this national pride comes a heavy belief in the traditions of Judaism, one of which is the persecution of homosexuals as described in the Old Testament.

So, by gearing generation upon generation towards national pride and defense in order to sustain themselves, the leaders of Israel may have doomed themselves to a place where those who are different are not welcome to practice their lifestyles for fear of being killed or injured.

The man who once came very close to wiping the Jewish race from the globe once said “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future”, Hitler used his power to kill ten million people because of their race or sexuality, the intentions of those who modeled the minds of young Israeli’s most certainly had better intentions, but the results may end up very much the same—Will Hawk