It has been reported that hundreds protested in Tel Aviv following the stabbing of a 16 year-old boy outside the LGBT+youth centre where he was seeking refuge.
The young man had been living at Beit Dror – an emergency centre for queer youth – after coming under increasing pressure from his family members to be more religious. As he was leaving the centre, his attacker stabbed him, wounding him in the chest and leg before fleeing by car. The young man managed to tell youth centre workers it was his brother who had attacked him, before passing out. While the teenager remains in hospital, his wounds are not considered to be life threatening.
Speaking of the attack, the Israeli LGBT+ Youth Organisation stated, “Exactly 10 years after the murder at Bar Noar, today an LGBT youth was stabbed while exiting a shelter.” They continued, “This stabbing was not coincidental. This is a hate crime against the LGBT community. There is a price for the insinuations and LGBT-phobia we hear everyday.”
כאלף איש צועדים בצעדת קהילת הלהט"ב בתל אביב תחת הכותרת "נלחמות על החיים שלנו"@OferHalfonKan pic.twitter.com/sfgKQL8HBE
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 28, 2019
Hundreds protested the rise in homophobic and transphobic attacks and attitudes. Councillor Etai Pinkas-Arad blamed the attack on Israeli officials who through their actions, incite violence against the LGBT+ community. Pinkas-Arad stated, “When the country is full of inciting billboards, when our religious leaders are willing to sacrifice our blood, and the Education Minister wants to convert us (Rafi Peretz, who spoke in favour of conversion therapy), then some people are hearing that message and are taking action.”
Israeli politician, Issawi Frej, added, “Words have meaning, even words that are multiplying in the public sphere against the LGBT+ community. We must as a society maintain respectful discourse and fight any manifestation of hatred based on sexual orientation, nationality, skin color or any other definition.”
Police are still investigating the incident and as yet, no arrest has been made.
Earlier this year, further confirming the beliefs of protestors, Aguda – an LGBT+ rights organisation – reported a 54% rise in the number of recorded homophobic attacks in 2018 as opposed to 2017 statistics.
© 2019 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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