World GLBT Jewish Congress

Holds Conference in Tel Aviv

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

TEL AVIV - Earlier this month, Kibbutz Givat Haviva was the Tel Aviv locale for "Keshet Ga'ava", the 17^th International Conference of the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Jews. Approximately 100 attendees, including 35 leaders of worldwide GLBT congregations, participated in the July 4-7 event, which was opened on July 4 by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Chuldai. Those who arrived before June 28 in order to attend the 45,000-strong Gay Pride parade took part in a full schedule of activities and trips during the interim week, which included a tour and lengthy meeting with Israeli Supreme Court staff in Jerusalem to discuss the status of gay issues in the Court as well as trips to Sodom and the Galilee.

Marvin Kabakoff of Am Tikva, Boston's Community of GLBT Jews, attended the conference and a preliminary tour. “It was incredible being there,” he says, “and very different from what the media portrays. You see lots of frustration with the situation, but people are going on with their lives, and are not locking themselves in their homes. I never felt fearful, and was totally comfortable walking around both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem late at night.”

In addition to the main meeting, Kabakoff reports that there were “receptions at the Jerusalem Open House, the gay community organization in Jerusalem, and at the Tel Aviv headquarters of the Agudah, Israel's GLBT organization, which hosted the conference.” He noted that membership in both organizations is open to all: men and women, Jews and Palestinians, religious and secular.

Social events, religious services and intensive workshops in both Hebrew and in English were part of the overall agenda. Topics discussed, as inclusive as the membership structure; included "GLBTs in Mainstream Jewish Organizations," "Aliyah, Yerida, and the International Movemen," "Passing: Appearing to be Who We're Not," "Dealing with Difference in a Multi-cultural Community," "Gay and Arab: Palestinian Pride," "Homosexuality in the IDF," and "The History of Israel 's GLBT Community." An international Jewish student meeting and an international meeting of Jewish professionals were other highlights.

Over 65 member organizations in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States make up The World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews: Keshet Ga'avah (“Rainbow of Pride”; the Hebrew subtitle stresses the importance of Hebrew and of Israel to the organization). Regular conferences and workshops are held worldwide, with foci varying from regional, national, continental to global.

The World Congress had sponsored a very successful Horizons 2000 conference in New Jersey prior to the Tel Aviv gathering; group officials were determined to hold the Israel conference, in fact to make it the best one ever, as a show of solidarity with the Israeli GLBT community.

“I found the conference and participation in Israeli Gay Pride festivities,” says Kabakoff, “to be a great opportunity to get to know members of the Israeli gay organizations and compare the similarities and differences with Jewish GLBT groups in the U.S. “Despite the situation in Israel, and contrary to what the media would lead us to believe, people in Israel are well able to put together a week of fun and of learning.”

For more information on the World Congress, visit http://www.wcgljo.org/news-a.htm.