Reply #35: Palestinian Gay Runaways Survive on Israeli Streets [View All]

[oberliner]

TEL AVIV—At the bath houses of Tel Aviv, “Rani” finds anonymity and sometimes a free buffet. And there is always the chance of meeting an Israeli or a rich tourist who will offer his hotel room for a few nights, no questions asked.

For gay Palestinian runaways such as Rani, life on the street in Israel is a daily calculation of how to survive, but it is still easier than the persecution they say they suffered in the more traditional communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“Anwar”—who like other Palestinian homosexuals interviewed by Reuters goes by an assumed name—fled the West Bank after his brothers and father suspected he was gay and beat him senseless.

Rani said he was tortured by Palestinian police who wanted him to spy on other homosexuals—a charge authorities at his Gaza hometown denied. He escaped on a work visa to Israel before a Palestinian uprising for statehood erupted three years ago.

Rights activists estimate that 300 mostly male gay Palestinians are quietly eking out a living in Israel, at risk of being forcibly repatriated because they are illegal immigrants or because police consider them a threat.

http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/palestine/psnews003.htm