Israel's Prime Minister, speaking from a rainbow flag bedecked dais to a crowd estimated at up to 70,000, says there is a place for gays in Israel. Shimon Peres and a group of national political leaders were amongst those who gathered in Ccentral Tel Aviv this morning to mourn the loss of a 26-year old man and 16-year old girl who were shot dead last Saturday when a masked gunman opened fire inside a gay youth centre. Thirteen others were injured in the attack. Although cosmopolitan Tel Aviv has a bustling gay scene, open homosexuality is shunned in conservative areas of Israel. A poll just conducted by Haaretz newspaper indicated that almost half of Israelis consider gays to be deviants. Despite a police manhunt the killer has not been found and no motive has been confirmed for the attack.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 9th August 2009 - 10:43pm