:00:00. > :00:11.international image. The programme Tel Aviv. 40 miles from the Gaza
:00:11. > :00:15.Strip. Less than an hour were's Tel Aviv. 40 miles from the Gaza
:00:15. > :00:20.from the Western Wall. And is now one of the most gay friendly places
:00:20. > :00:30.on earth. How has a city in the heart of the Middle East become
:00:30. > :00:31.on earth. How has a city in the Bastian of sexual tolerance? Want of
:00:31. > :00:46.the international icons tells me how Israelis are also religious and
:00:47. > :00:54.Like OK Palestinians could not be more difference. In the Arab world,
:00:54. > :00:57.being gay athlete is not that good. So being out and everybody knows
:00:57. > :01:14.it, you will not have a normal And in the park where he used to
:01:14. > :01:19.cruise for sex, the 30th generation rabbi is redefining what it is to be
:01:19. > :01:23.gay and Jewish. The fact that there is a spiritual group of people who
:01:23. > :01:28.wanted to be clear and experience This is a site of Israel that few
:01:29. > :01:32.would recognise and a city that This is a site of Israel that few
:01:32. > :02:08.Gay pride has come to town. It is my first event. I sense they are not
:02:08. > :02:18.all like this. Where are we running first event. I sense they are not
:02:18. > :02:19.all like this. Where are we running too? The car.A colourful, crazy
:02:19. > :02:38.up with an orthodox lesbian friend collection. Just struggling to
:02:38. > :02:39.up with an orthodox lesbian friend who is on a mission. Red, orange,
:02:39. > :02:50.yellow, green, where is green? Green who is on a mission. Red, orange,
:02:50. > :02:55.yellow, green, where is green? Green has gone. Gay Hasidic Jews. Is it
:02:55. > :03:11.possible to be religious orthodoxy Protesters. If you are a straight
:03:11. > :03:16.talking gay or a female looking lesbian, it is wonderful in Israel.
:03:16. > :03:27.Everybody thinks you are awesome. completely by Nellie, your life
:03:27. > :03:29.Everybody thinks you are awesome. living hell. An optimistic explosion
:03:29. > :03:43.of colour with an undercurrent of politics. Kitsch and camp. Orthodox
:03:43. > :03:46.and secular. And to make it even more dizzying, all of this has
:03:46. > :03:57.exploded in the past couple of accident. The city's now has set out
:03:57. > :04:04.to revamp a Tel Aviv as a Bastian of gay freedom. This is the venue that
:04:04. > :04:16.You put a lot of deliberate effort into this. You spent a lot of money
:04:16. > :04:20.to promote this in Israel and around into this. You spent a lot of money
:04:20. > :04:22.to promote this in Israel and around the world. This has been a policy.
:04:22. > :04:42.The plan is working. These are How much has he spent promoting
:04:42. > :04:42.The plan is working. These are arguably the most gay friendly
:04:42. > :04:47.square miles in Israel. And for arguably the most gay friendly
:04:47. > :04:55.distance beyond this country's drawing a crowd of 100,000. A fifth
:04:55. > :05:04.credentials abroad, the Mary even dispatched some of Israel's most gay
:05:04. > :05:12.men to other places around the world to publicise Our World —— Tel Aviv.
:05:12. > :05:20.But it has not always been a pink paradise. Away from the parade,
:05:20. > :05:23.But it has not always been a pink have come to Tel Aviv University, to
:05:23. > :05:37.instrumental in transforming gay rights in Israel. Professor. Yes.
:05:37. > :05:40.Chemistry professor was the Evan is an unlikely human rights you are. ——
:05:40. > :05:50.hero. More than 200 of them. It an unlikely human rights you are. ——
:05:50. > :05:57.probably the fastest mechanical device on earth. It can open and
:05:57. > :06:06.millionths of a second. I hear there is a waiting list. No, just one
:06:06. > :06:09.year. Do I have to wait a year?You will have to wait more, because
:06:09. > :06:17.year. Do I have to wait a year?You do not have a scientific need for
:06:17. > :06:21.it. I have HECS Ian chemistry. OK. His place goes back to the early
:06:21. > :06:27.nuclear scientist in the army. Until nuclear scientist in the army. Until
:06:27. > :06:30.his sexuality got in the way. I nuclear scientist in the army. Until
:06:30. > :06:41.to handle sensitive material. When they found out that I am gay, I
:06:41. > :06:47.to handle sensitive material. When discharged without any way to debate
:06:47. > :06:48.I was deeply hurt. I believed that I it or argue with it or explained it.
:06:48. > :06:51.I was deeply hurt. I believed that I was useful for them. I enjoyed it.
:06:51. > :06:56.How did they find out? Periodically was useful for them. I enjoyed it.
:06:56. > :07:00.How did they find out? Periodically they have to check your security
:07:00. > :07:12.man. That was all it took. And at clearance. A neighbour downstairs
:07:12. > :07:15.man. That was all it took. And at the time, in the early 1980s, apart
:07:15. > :07:23.from the army was a difficult place to be gay? Horribly difficult.
:07:23. > :07:27.People were subject to a years of imprisonment. There was constant
:07:27. > :07:36.police harassment. Society regarded it as something that was bad. You
:07:36. > :07:44.could not come out, you would pay such a heavy price. Ten years after
:07:44. > :07:58.his discharge, he decided to tell his story to the Israeli Parliament.
:07:58. > :08:06.against it. They carried my speech in every newspaper. I had a good
:08:06. > :08:23.story to tell. Because we are gay, we are marginalised. The Labour
:08:23. > :08:31.sympathetic. Laws changed. And now the army claims to be the most gay
:08:31. > :08:44.serve. This photograph was posted on serve. This photograph was posted
:08:44. > :09:02.for a gay people. They have jobs Facebook. There are some jobs in
:09:02. > :09:04.for a gay people. They have jobs promoting gay people. Why would
:09:04. > :09:13.honey traps as well. Maybe some know what a honey trap is? They
:09:13. > :09:38.Besides the military and political Arabian scientists have suppressed
:09:38. > :09:41.Besides the military and political battles, there was another unlikely
:09:41. > :10:01.figure who gave the gay figure a seminal push. —— movement. Parking
:10:01. > :10:08.Everybody is going to the Jaffa wharf. An industrial place. To see
:10:08. > :10:23.one of the biggest names in the International —— Eurovision Song
:10:23. > :10:25.Contest. It might be 15 years since she won Eurovision. But she can
:10:25. > :10:47.Her 1998 Eurovision victory was cited as a key milestone in the
:10:47. > :11:34.In the slightly less glamorous representing Israel, but winning.
:11:34. > :11:48.gay people here. It is surprising to the world. Israel is a religious
:11:48. > :11:57.country. Along with that, Israel is community. It is unbelievable that
:11:57. > :12:09.Israel suffers from such a bad name. religious, riding camels and reading
:12:09. > :12:13.beautiful picture that you paint. But there are clearly part of Israel
:12:13. > :12:16.that there are is discrimination. People say that it was not until the
:12:16. > :12:22.1990s. You are flattering me. I People say that it was not until the
:12:22. > :12:26.supposed to say yes, it is all because of me. But it is not like
:12:26. > :12:32.that, I am telling you. Since I because of me. But it is not like
:12:32. > :12:46.13 years old, we have always had gay years old. You have to understand,
:12:46. > :12:54.the secular tolerance, Israel is different to the orthodox Israel. Do
:12:54. > :13:01.you have friends in the Arab world? Yes. I love Arab boys. They are
:13:01. > :13:06.you have friends in the Arab world? and competitive. There are more
:13:06. > :13:21.masculine. Do you think this could process? Sex process. Thank you
:13:21. > :13:21.masculine. Do you think this could much. It seems like a good moment to
:13:21. > :13:40.International. For all the carefree much. It seems like a good moment to
:13:40. > :13:52.International. For all the carefree head and is in of pride, Israel
:13:53. > :13:55.—— hedonism. Two people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a gay
:13:55. > :14:00.youth centre. But it was the outcry afterwards, from the PM downwards,
:14:00. > :14:09.it was just as notable. Suggesting that the incident was an exception
:14:09. > :14:14.to public opinion, not an indication of it. In fact, some of the voices
:14:14. > :14:17.around this come from within the gay community itself. Angry that the
:14:17. > :14:27.politicians to show that Israel community itself. Angry that the
:14:27. > :14:43.morally superior to its name, —— Tel Aviv University professor calls
:14:44. > :14:52.this pink washing. A professor he may be, but he is having a little
:14:52. > :15:04.trim before at pride. —— Pride. may be, but he is having a little
:15:04. > :15:11.the one hand, having the Palestinian question, but on the other hand
:15:11. > :15:29.If we take tomorrow's events, is that pink washing? Or is that a
:15:29. > :15:54.community showing its own confidence that pink washing? Or is that a
:15:54. > :16:21.Understandably, for some people question is the big dominant thing.
:16:21. > :16:26.And, if gay rights are being used as a political tool for that, against
:16:26. > :16:31.what you believe in, if they are being used to take peoples attention
:16:31. > :16:38.away from the occupied territories, then that will make it hard if you
:16:38. > :16:40.are gay to celebrate gay rights here. It will leave a bitter taste
:16:40. > :17:01.President Obama said his best wishes to Pride, but will there be any
:17:01. > :17:08.offers of support from Israel's immediate neighbours? I sent the
:17:08. > :17:11.Egyptian press office and e—mail to see if they might be wishing Tel
:17:11. > :17:21.Aviv gay pride would luck for this week? —— good luck. The line has
:17:21. > :17:25.gone dead. So, nothing back from Egypt, Jordan said they would get
:17:26. > :17:29.back to me, and haven't done that. Nothing from Palestinian authority,
:17:29. > :17:37.nothing from Lebanon and no messages of goodwill for gay pride from any
:17:37. > :17:43.not great to be gay in the Arab of Israel's neighbours. While it is
:17:43. > :17:45.not great to be gay in the Arab world, to some extent it is nuanced.
:17:45. > :18:17.talk about his experience. We found they route. —— mine, and a route.
:18:17. > :18:21.talk about his experience. We found anonymity preserved. So we will
:18:21. > :18:32.talk about his experience. We found identify him. We'll call him Ahmed.
:18:32. > :18:43.do you need to keep your identity secret? Firstly, because of my
:18:43. > :18:50.community. You know? In the Arab world, being gay out plea is not
:18:50. > :18:54.good. Being out and everyone knows about you, you will not have a
:18:54. > :19:04.normal life in an Arab city. What do you mean by not having a normal
:19:04. > :19:10.the Arab world, you know in general it is a shame. And a shame thing in
:19:10. > :19:17.our country will the Arab world it is a shame. And a shame thing in
:19:17. > :19:22.experience of other gay people you know in the Palestinian territories?
:19:22. > :19:28.How has it been for them with their families and communities? Most of
:19:28. > :19:32.them, they are not out. They don't tell their families. Sometimes they
:19:32. > :19:44.travel abroad to study and they tell their families. Sometimes they
:19:44. > :19:55.Apart from your family, does anyone are gay? No. No.What would happen
:19:55. > :20:05.Some people think would not talk to to you or your family? What would
:20:05. > :20:07.Some people think would not talk to me any more. Not because they hate
:20:07. > :20:08.or think it is a bad thing, but because they think it will affect
:20:08. > :20:26.step back. It would have been quite because they think it will affect
:20:26. > :20:26.step back. It would have been quite something at the sexual revolution
:20:27. > :20:30.really crossed the cultural and something at the sexual revolution
:20:30. > :20:38.physical barriers between here and the West Bank. Israel itself remains
:20:38. > :21:20.This is an alternative summit run by a gay man who is trying to reinvent
:21:20. > :21:49.A gay Orthodox Jew from a dynasty of 37 generations of rabbis, this
:21:49. > :22:00.man's homosexuality alienating him from his community. Now, he is
:22:00. > :22:04.leading a group of gay and lesbian Jews in worship. This has been the
:22:04. > :22:10.for as long as anyone can remember. primary cruising site in Tel Aviv
:22:10. > :22:13.for as long as anyone can remember. In my teens, before online dating
:22:13. > :22:17.and before a happy courage to go out to the few gay places that were
:22:18. > :22:23.here, this is where I would come. With a great deal of terror. Wide
:22:23. > :22:54.there was a conflict between Huay as With a great deal of terror. Wide
:22:54. > :22:55.there was a conflict between Huay as a religious Ju, and to who I am
:22:55. > :23:12.there was a conflict between Huay as someone who is attracted to my own
:23:12. > :23:25.religious Jew. I chose Faure few years to take my tip are off, ——
:23:25. > :23:32.kippah. And now you are leading years to take my tip are off, ——
:23:32. > :23:42.religious group. It is quite a journey. Yes, watching the parade
:23:42. > :23:50.today, this was not possible 20 years ago. This is for people who
:23:50. > :24:00.want to be queer and experience their spirit in a very new and
:24:00. > :24:01.creative Jewish way. To try and build a circle for all of them
:24:01. > :24:22.For a country so often in the news, Israel has the capacity to confound
:24:22. > :24:36.to be one big party, the politics is expectations. While it might appear
:24:36. > :24:36.to be one big party, the politics is attention. It might be hard to infer
:24:36. > :24:40.wider, regional invocations from the attention. It might be hard to infer
:24:40. > :24:41.wider, regional invocations from the organically and with deliberate
:24:41. > :24:45.effort, to become an intriguing organically and with deliberate
:24:45. > :24:45.effort, to become an intriguing microcosm of tolerance in the heart