“We are a democratic country, a country of tolerance, a law-abiding state,” said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the attack on the gay youth centre in Tel Aviv last night. “I spoke to the internal security minister this morning and asked him to act so that the murderer faces trial and so that the full force of the law is used against him.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres said: “Murder and hatred are the two most serious crimes in society. The police must exert great efforts in order to catch the despicable murderer, and the entire nation must unite in condemning this abominable act.”

Too right. In many of the countries surrounding Israel, the government and police would not be condemning and hunting somone who murdered gay people – they would be committing the murders themselves as part of their barbaric legal systems.

As I discovered when I first visited Israel in 2006 in part to research an article for Attitude magazine about gay life there, Israel is a beacon of light in a dark region. I interviewed countless gay Israelis including a celebrity chef, a serving IDF officer and an Israeli Arab. All were full of positivity about the Jewish state’s record on gay rights.

And no wonder. As I wrote, in Israel:

‘Workplace discrimination against gay people is outlawed; the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) has many openly gay members; in schools, teenagers learn about the difficulties of being gay and the importance of treating all sexualities equally. The country’s army, the Israel Defence Force has many dozens of openly gay high-ranking officers who, like all gay soldiers in its ranks, are treated equally by order of the government. The Supreme Court has ruled that gay couples are eligible for spousal and widower benefits. The country has many gay football teams. Nearly all mainstream television dramas in Israel regularly feature gay storylines. When transsexual Dana International won the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest as Israel’s representative, 80 per cent of polled Israelis called her “an appropriate representative of Israel”‘.

You can read my full account of gay life in Israel here.

My thoughts go out to all effected by last night’s shooting.

I first wrote this article about gay pride parades in Israel back in June 2007. My argument was that such parades should be held in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. I also argued that, contrary to what some Western people think, Israel is not a homophobic country and I explained my first-hand evidence for this assertion.

I was surprised by the reaction to the article. Everyone from gay rights fanatics to observant religious folk seemed to disagree with it and I received countless emails of complaint. One Israeli guy I know even stopped talking to me for some months because he was so angry about my empathy with the Haredim. And there was me thinking I’d written a balanced argument – my planned career as a diplomat was immediately put on hold.

I was actually in Jerusalem on the day of the controversial parade (which coincided with my birthday). I didn’t attend – partly for the reasons outlined in the article, partly because I think such events are an embarrassing bore, and partly because the pool at the lovely Mount Zion hotel is very difficult to leave once you’re sprawled out by it. I noticed, though, that the parade caused little fuss in Jerusalem itself beyond a few moans about traffic disruption from taxi drivers. The lack of fuss surprised me after the way my article had so divided people.

However, people slowly seemed to see my argument differently.  First, an Israeli teacher I know started quoting it in one of his classes. Then a website used it as evidence that I am ‘nuanced’. Well, I’ve been called some things in my time…

With the forthcoming gay pride parade planned for Friday in Tel Aviv, I dusted off my article earlier today and posted it on my Facebook page. I half feared another barrage of disagreement but it was quickly approved of by several people, with one friend saying: “I agree 100 per cent with this article”.

There you go, I was just ahead of my time.

PS – You can now also read my article ‘The Six Day Phwoar’ about gay life in Israel (written for Attitude magazine in 2006) here.

I see Shas chairman Eli Yishai has spoken out against the idea of another gay pride rally in Jerusalem. Believe it or not, I largely agree with him.