Hate crimes in Tel Aviv?

A sad story -- and a terrorist act even if totally unrelated to Middle East issues...

JERUSALEM - Israel's gay community was rocked on Sunday by the killing of two people in a gay youth centre and the possibility they fell victim to a hate crime in the Jewish state's most freewheeling city.

"The biggest shock is to think that it happened in Tel Aviv, which is the most tolerant city in the country," said Avi Sofer, a gay rights activist.

Witnesses said a masked gunman clad in black opened fire on Saturday night in a basement club belonging to the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association, which was hosting a weekly event for teenage gays.

The attacker killed a 26-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl and wounded 13 people before fleeing, hospital officials said.

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Police said they were still searching for the attacker and that the shooting was not an anti-Israeli attack by a Palestinian but gave no other details, citing a court order banning publication of details of the investigation.
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If the incident proves to be a hate crime, it will mark the most serious attack against the gay community in Israel's history.

Condemning what he called a "horrific killing", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet: "We are a tolerant, democratic country governed by the rule of law and we must respect each and every person."
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Nitzan Horowitz, an openly gay legislator, said he had no doubt there was a connection between the latest killings and what he termed incitement against the gay community in Israel.
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We demand that the government put an end to this hate campaign and that the Education Ministry institute proper information and education at schools in order to prevent the recurrence of such shameful events," Horowitz said.

Despite anti-gay sentiments among some religious Jews in Israel, gays serve openly in the military. Israel accords same-sex couples a measure of legal recognition and cohabitation rights, though Orthodox religious authorities control formal nuptials in the country.

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