June 12/2015

Proud to be an Israeli

Nearly 200,000 people, including over 30,000 tourists from across the globe, have decorated the streets of Tel Aviv this Friday, along with thousands of rainbow flags, as they marched in the 17th annual Gay pride parade that culminated a weeklong of Pride week festivities in Israel. The Pride parade this year was the largest ever to have taken place in Israel, and it is the largest in the entire continent of Asia, and in the Middle East.

Tel Aviv is hailed as one of the most LGBT friendly cities on earth. In 2011 it was ranked by GayCities.com as the number one best LGBT tourist destination, surpassing New York, Madrid, London and Toronto. 

This is of course a source of great pride as it reflects the pluralistic nature of Israeli society as well as the values of democracy, tolerance and freedom of assembly that characterize Israel. To further illustrate the sensitivity in Israel towards same sex couples, the IDF this month issued a new policy that ensures that same sex couples with children will not have to simultaneously report for reserve duty at times when a national emergency might require mass recruitment. It is also, unfortunately, a sad reflection on the lack of those principles in most, if not all other countries in the Middle East. In some of those countries, like Iran, being gay is considered to be a crime punishable by death.

As Pride Week in Israel winds up this weekend, Pride weekend in Philadelphia commences. We at the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia are proud to support and take active part in the celebration of the Philly Pride Parade and Festival.

Pride week in Israel and Pride weekend in Philadelphia illustrate our shared values as open, pluralistic and free societies. That makes me very proud to be an Israeli.

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Yaron Sideman
Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region