Equal to the fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people exist the world over, is the fact that, the world over, LGBT people are discriminated against. Some are discriminated by societies and laws with a past firmly rooted in heterosexuality, others are actively pursued by states and regimes keen on punishing them for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality; beaten, tortured and sometimes murdered just for being who they are. These are realities for LGBT people the world over and this is no less true in the Middle East. Israel, Egypt and Jordan are the only countries in the Middle East where same-sex sexual activity is legal, however, legality is far from acceptance. Israel is the only country in the region with a thriving, vibrant LGBT community although that’s not to say there isn’t severe discrimination or challenges to overcome and that’s why I travelled to Israel to take part in the World Pride events.

I’m no expert on the longstanding conflict in the Middle East of course, I have my views, we all do, but my visit to Israel wasn’t about that wider conflict directly, but its effects on LGBT communities and people. Arriving at the height of the recent Hezbollah-Israeli conflict didn’t so much as deter me from making the journey but made me more determined to go, a decision I will never regret. To see first-hand something only ever seen on TV, or discussed on conference floor, really impacts and changes your perception and even though it opens up so many more questions than it answers, it’s worth it.

On the flight over , Claire and I sat next to a women from Newton Mearns, a few miles from my hometown, she had moved to Israel in the 60s and now lived near the Sea of Galilee. Missiles were landing close to her home on an almost hourly basis, yet all she wanted to do was go home to be with her family. If there is one thing I realised that I was guilty of, it was forgetting about the real people in this conflict, the families, the mothers and fathers, and the children, somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter. I met later in the week with a Palestinian man, 21 years old, who had fled to Israel because of his sexuality, he told me about how much he missed his family, his brothers and how he feared for their safety, he also spoke of the friends he had lost, one when he was only 12 years old. Ramalla is just a stone’s throw away from Jerusalem and yet for him it was a world away, the concrete of a wall can build so many inequalities and so much suffering.

We didn’t really do much on our first evening in Israel. We were both quite tired after what had been a long journey. We took a walk along the beautiful beach, trying to dodge all the tennis balls on the way, and had a late dinner. One thing that did strike me was the consistency of helicopter gunships flying overhead and the people who didn’t seem to bother about it. I’m sure if a gunship were to do that in the UK, there would be more than a raised eyebrow.

Day two was also spent in Tel Aviv, but in a much more productive way than our arrival day. We both decided to go along for part of the ‘Queeruption’ events as recommended our very own Sofie Buckland. I’m not really sure how to describe this group of self styled queer radicals so I thought I’d let them do it themselves, from their website;

I have to say this event intrigued me, not just because I don’t self-define as Queer, but because of its very nature, anarchy isn’t something that appeals to me. But just because it’s not my bag doesn’t mean it’s not someone else’s.

We arrived in the middle of their morning meeting, suffice to say for anarchists this was a meeting so structured and polite it would have put LGBT committee and NEC to shame. Everyone spoke in turn and when agreement could not be reached they would continue to talk until everyone felt comfortable with the decisions made. Hence why the meeting to decide what they would be doing throughout the day took two hours!

While Claire attended a workshop on taboos and I joined a discussion on the messages for the World Pride peaceful protest taking place later in the week. I think someone forgot to tell them it was a peaceful protest, I’ll talk more about that later in the blog. We then split into groups and started work on the ‘visual elements’ for world pride. I was a touch uncomfortable with some of the messages decided on, I don’t think people would be too surprised to hear that considering I’m not an anarchist, there were other people in the room who also didn’t feel comfortable, hoping that any message could be about LGBT liberation, not about the ongoing conflict.

That night the Queeruption crowd held their sex party, something that Claire and I thought best not to hang around for.

The next day was an early start, we checked out of our hotel and headed to pick up our car hire. Unfortunately (for Claire mostly) something had happened to our car and the only thing they could offer us was a van, I felt like I had just enlisted in the Israeli builders association. We drove the short journey from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This morning was the day I saw the true realities of this conflict, the reality of separation.

When I decided to attend World Pride in Jerusalem – the city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – I also decided that what I wanted to do, more than anything else on the schedule was demonstrate against the separation wall.

I remember 1989, I was young, but the jubilation of the Berlin people when the wall came down was infectious, years of divide, years of pain being demolished - brick by brick. I remember seeing the lines of people on top of the wall with pick axes, shovels or anything they could strike a blow with, tearing down the divide that was much more than bricks and mortar.

A wall in Israel is no different, physically dividing Jerusalem leaving many Jerusalemites behind a 26 ft high divide, denying access to most of Jerusalem for Palestinians, including members of the LGBT community who need access to the services provided just as much if not more so.

What surrounded us that day was a stark awareness of the realities of conflict, violence, defence and occupation. We stood amongst friends, Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs and people from all over the world expressing our solidarity with the LGBT people on both sides of the wall. I doubt very much that our small demonstration will make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but I felt it was important to do it.

Later that morning we met with our guide for the rest of the day. Mike was to take us on a whirlwind tour into the history of Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine and the three monolithic faiths. In the few short hours I learned more about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the people of this region than a lifetime of media watching and book reading. We toured the four quarters of the old city, entering by the Jaffa gate. Through the secluded Armenian quarter we arrived in the much-rebuilt Jewish Quarter. The rebuilding of recent years gave an opportunity for historical restoration, many old streets and residences had been found including a street dating back to the Byzantine period.

It was from there we went to the area surrounding the temple mount, this was the site of the first and second Jewish temples and now the Muslim shrines, the Dome of the Rock and the and the al-Aksa Mosque. The shrines were built in the seventh century and are mentioned in the Koran as the "Remote Place". Much of the old temple walls had been dug out in recent times revealing stones placed in the time of Herod. However for many years the Western Wall was the only wall of the second temple, which remained standing. For Jews this remnant of what was the most sacred building in the Jewish world remains the holiest spot in Jewish life. Throughout the centuries, Jews from throughout the world travelled to the Old City headed for the Kotel ha-Ma'aravi to thank God, the first thing that struck me was the space allocated to women and the space allocated to men. Many, many women were crammed into a space that must have been no longer than 15m across while the men were granted ample space. I wondered how much tradition could be used to support gender inequality, although I’m told it was only in recent times women were even allowed to go to the wall. I placed a skullcap on my head and headed to the wall. I can’t say it was especially spiritual for me, to me it was just a wall, albeit a very old wall. However what did strike me was the strong emotion others felt to this wall. To my left a solder forced a small piece of paper into a crack with visible emotion, these pieces of paper are called kvitlach and are messages people hoped to be answered, on my right someone prayed, his body swung in the breeze. I may not have found spirituality that day, but the wall’s importance had been made clear, perhaps if I had had more time to reflect (I had been asked for money five times in five minutes) I may have felt differently.

Being here in the place which means so much to so many, a place sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, did have an effect on me in a different way. Having fought for LGBT equality since I was 17 years old this was a place important to three of the world’s big religions, religions that some, not all, use to discriminate against us.

We walked through some of the many shops in the Muslim Quarter, I was disappointed not to be able to see the dome of the rock and the al-Aska Mosque, however understood that these areas are sacred to Muslims and having tourists tramp all over them must not be very appealing. On our journey through some of the stages of the cross, key stages on the Journey of Jesus Christ on his way to be crucified we encountered some children playing, one had a swastika drawn in thick black on his arm, he was only around 12 years old. Sad I thought, not just due to his age but because of what that symbol represented.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be the place of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, was our final stop on what had been a long but fascinating day. No fewer than eight dominations look after the church (possibly more). The problem being that few denominations, if any, will acknowledge the others’ right of ownership on areas of the church. Over the centuries, its controlling sects; Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Ethiopian, Egyptian Copt and Syrian Orthodox, have fought over practically everything. We were told that in some areas the Mayor of Jerusalem had to come and change the light bulb because two denominations would never talk about basic housekeeping in fear it would legitimise the others claim of ownership. This to me was a shocking state of affairs, when the leaders of faith groups preach dialogue but practice ignorance. To me this had striking parallels with homophobia vented by some in the religious community. Seeing Adam’s tomb brought home the conflict between the Bible texts and other theories. Did Adam exist? I was sure evolution theory said no, in the end it doesn’t matter, I’ll always respect others right to faith, and I think that is really important. All I ask in return is a respect for my sexuality. I didn’t choose it, however I would never choose to loose it and I certainly don’t need to be cured.

Thursday saw a bit of a wild goose chase. The agenda for the world pride events were apparently quite fluid, this was very frustrating. All the times and events we had were taken from the internet a few days before we left the UK. Having no internet connection meant that we didn’t have access to the latest info on when and where events were taking place. We headed to the World Pride information centre only to find it closed, from there we decided to try the hotel where the interfaith convention was being held, however this was by invitation only and all the participants had gone out to lunch at a nearby café. We were on a mission now and headed for the café. Despite some resistance (we hadn’t come 2250 miles to be left out) we were welcomed into the group and listened to an interesting talk on the history of the gay rights movement in Israel. The challenges they faced, and had mostly overcome, and the new face of homophobia in the form of right wing religious fanatics, one of whom had been on a stabbing spree at the Jerusalem pride celebrations. We didn’t want to overstay our welcome and headed for what was the most emotional part of the trip for me.

Yad Vashem is the memorial to the six million Jews, travellers, political dissidents, trade unionists, disabled and gay people, along with others, who were murdered by the German Reich. This was a deeply personal experience, however what I will say is that I was pleased, if indeed that is the right word to use, that there was a section dedicated to the lives of the thousands of gay people murdered and terrorised by the fascist Nazis. It will always be a reminder to me why we must campaign against, stand up to and no-platform the BNP. The policies these people represent are dangerous and we must never give them an inch.

Liberty Bell Park was the next destination for the peaceful gathering, which would be the highlight of the World Pride events. Earlier in the month the parade was cancelled due to security fears however this didn’t serve to dampen my enthusiasm for this event. There were flags from all over the world, including a pink union jack. The people too were diverse. There must have been around 400 people in the park flag-waving, chatting, and just generally being proud. I felt proud too, until sadly others decided that this event wasn’t good enough for them and they would like to try something a little more confrontational. The Queeruption crew had arrived. I didn’t get much opportunity to see what was going on as most of us were ushered by stewards to the other side of the park. But there were arrests, and headlines hijacked. Being proud had quickly turned into being saddened. I’m not sure who was to blame for the events that led to the early cancellation of the gathering but I know that from my side of the park it was a big disappointment.

That evening was the World Pride official party. This had everything you’d expect of a pride party, the community singer, dancing and amounts of alcohol. There was more to this particular party though and that was the people who made the night so enjoyable. To the students from the UK, thanks for a fantastic evening I enjoyed your company tremendously, and to Rabbi Steven Greenberg thanks for your words of wisdom, I felt truly spiritual that night. Thank you. If you are wondering who Rabbi Greenberg is you can find out more info here.

The day after the night before wasn’t so bad as we had left early and the day’s events made me glad I did. That morning we met with Ner, an art student from the Hebrew University who took us to a place of great significance to him, Mount Herzl, the national cemetery. As we arrived the car park was full, sadly, we were to later find out, due to the ongoing conflict in Lebanon. Funerals for another son, another sister another neighbour and the realisation of the stark realities of war, for there were not only funerals in Israel but in Lebanon too. It was really interesting to see the importance of this place for Ner. I could tell he felt a sense of respect for the people who lay here and this place, more than any other, was a place which he felt some form of national identity. We walked and talked through the many levels of the cemetery. I was shocked to see some soldiers graves for people as young as 10 years old, and the many teenagers buried here, caught up in a relentless cycle of violence. Sitting at the grave of Yitzchak Rabbinin 36C heat felt so calm, it’s sad to think that someone who had worked so hard for piece died so violently.

That afternoon was much more relaxing as we went for lunch in the German colony, here too was being held another World Pride closed event. This time we didn’t try to muscle in, after our walk in the hot sun we were feeling a bit tired. Ner told us about life in Israel and a lot about his gay friends, his dislike for national service, and his feelings about gay life, the differences between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and his hopes for the future as an artist. I really enjoyed the perspective Ner gave us and appreciated the opportunity to meet him. We had an early night that evening as Jerusalem shut down for Shabbat.

Israel is a country as small as Wales with a diverse population and a history of pain and suffering, but Israel is so much more, it also houses a dynamic culture, breathtaking scenery, vibrant nightlife, a strong sense of family and so much more, my time in Israel has taught me many things, the importance of working together and standing together, of partnerships gay and straight, religious and non, Arab and Jewish, nobody wants suffering or war, and there are many working for peace, it’s just a shame that isn’t as newsworthy.

I really enjoyed my time in Israel and hope one day to go back to answer some of the many questions the trip opened up for me. I’m also proud of the LGBT community for holding Pride in the face of some quite intimidating threats. I want to say thanks to UJS for organising some guides for us during our visit and a thank you to the Students and others we met during the course of our fleeting visit. I hope that the LGBT community continues to stand tall and I’ll certainly be keeping tabs on the situation, offering support from afar.

In terms of internationalism, this trip has been invaluable to me and in my view the LGBT Campaign. The people met, the contacts made and the experiences had will shape work in the future. There is so much to fight for around the globe and we are in a prime position to fight for it. But not only do I feel better placed to fight for International rights, I feel better placed to understand faith. Hopefully that better understanding will be a stepping-stone to dialogue and a lasting friendship between the LGBT campaign and faith communities.

The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students.

All links in blogs will open in a new browser window.

The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/scottcuthbertson/275211.aspx