Video of a horrific attack on a gay couple in Israel has gone viral. The footage shows a group of men beating a gay man as hundreds of bystanders watched…and did nothing.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the attack occurred on Saturday night (August 1) in Jaffa Port. A gay couple had gone sailing together, renting a boat from the harbor. When they returned, a group of about 20 men saw the couple–who are Arabs–and began spitting on them. The attack escalated from there, with the group separating the pair and physically beating them. One man defended himself using pepper spray while the other tried to fight off his attackers by hand. Itzik Avneri, the owner of the boat cruise, had to step in to help.
“One of the attackers hit me and I fell on the ground,” one victim told The Post. “He came to me and said ‘I came back to you, you gay.’ I took my pepper spray and chased after him to spray him and then 20 Bedouins jumped on me. They jumped on me suddenly, for no reason. They wanted to kill me. Just because we were gay.”
Related: “No Longer Alone”: These Arab LGBTQ activists are speaking out in a powerful new PSA
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Avneri also asked one of the attackers why they targeted the couple. “Because we’re Arabs and they’re gays, and there won’t be gays among the Arabs, it gives Arabs a bad name,” the man reportedly responded.
Video of the incident begins after a majority of the attack. It shows Avneri defending one of the victims, going so far as to shove one attacker in the water.
Police arrived on the scene soon after and arrested a 16-year-old suspect. Representatives for the suspect insist that the attack was provoked by the gay couple in question; that the couple made sexual comments to a group of men including the suspect. Furthermore, said representatives insisted that the beating was justified, telling reporters “That’s how it is. You don’t see that gay Arabs are attacked in Jaffa every day?”
???? ?????? ??????? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ?? 500 ??? ??????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ????? ???? ?? ????? pic.twitter.com/byQBmp4YcM
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) August 4, 2020
Police have charged the suspect with aggravated assault and racist offenses. Law enforcement has also said the investigation is ongoing.
dhmonarch89
“Because we’re Arabs and they’re gays, and there won’t be gays among the Arabs, it gives Arabs a bad name,” ah… I think the attacking people gives you the bad name….
wikidBSTN
EXACTLY.
Heywood Jablowme
He shouldn’t worry about that. Arabs already have a bad name.
Vince
Someone needed to land some well placed fists in that skinny mooslem in the white shirt. I sure would’ve. Talking won’t slow the thug down.
IWantAFullBeard
They are Bedouins. Not all Bedouins are Muslim.
Prax07
Another shithole of a country filled with worthless animals pretending to be “human beings”.
jonasalden
I wouldn’t call Israel a shithole country, but then again I wouldn’t say that at all. But if I DID, it wouldn’t be Israel. If you’re in the US, don’t forget what’s going down here. Some would say…
Vince
They look like immigrants from the surrounding shithole countries. Israel is surrounded on all sides by them after all.
shushu
You don’t know what the hell you are talking about. Go educate yourself about Israel you piece of #!@$!!!
Kangol2
@Vince, dude, just consult Wikipedia for a change. First, Israel has a large population of native born Arabs. It’s in the Middle East, for god’s sake! Second, not all Arabs are Muslim (cf. Lebanon, Palestine, etc.). Sheesh!
Cam
Republicans and evangelical Christians don’t hate radical Islam because they’re different. They hate it because they’re completely similar and in competition with each other.
o.codone
CAM, another right wing troll commenting under still another false name. But we see you for who you really are CAM. You can’t disguise that you’re an evangelical catfishing as a liberal gay progressive. We’ve got your number.
Cam
Awwww, sweetie, once again, you just exposed that this screename is the same troll that was using all of the others. I suspected, but wasn’t sure.
See, no matter what screename you’re on, you avoid the topic and only lash out weakly at me.
Translation, my comment about right wing Republicans, Evangelicals and radical Islam being the same thing enraged you and you are desperate to deflect. Nice to know that all of your screenames are obsessed with me.
shushu
These are ARABS beating up the couple and NOT JEWS. Arabs will not allow gays in their countries. They hang them, torture them, throw them off buildings, shoot them and what you see in the video…Are gays are all about giving them another country? What? to kill more gays?!?! Learn about them and what they stand for. No gay is safe in an Arab environment.
Cam
Or in a Republican evangelical one.
Kangol2
@shushu, you are confusing Arabs (an ethnic group) and radical Islamists (a group of religious fanatics).
Creamsicle
Have they set up a GoFundMe for their medical expenses or therapy to deal with the trauma of an attack?
Is there something that we queerty readers can do besides infighting over which nationality or ethnicity we should feel more angry and jingoistic?
M149
From the admittedly minimal amount that I know about Israel from gay films, I doubt I would even leave Tel Aviv if a partner and I traveled there.
There are several groups, both Arab and Jewish, who don’t approve of LGBTQ people and may act violently.
But that’s what you get in a place filled with such ancient and strong belief systems.