In new documentary, gay Palestinian men in Israel grapple with their sexual, national identity

[TexasTowelie]

This Monday, July 27, 2015 photo shows Khader Abu Seif, from left, Naeem Jiryes and Fadi Daeem, protagonists of the documentary movie "Oriented" during an interview with The Associated Press in Jaffa, mixed Jewish-Arab part of Tel Aviv, Israel. The privately funded film is British director Jake Witzenfeld’s first feature documentary. It premiered in June at the Sheffield Film Festival in England and the Los Angeles Film Festival in the United States but has not made it to the Middle East yet. (AP Photo/Eyal Warshavsky)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — During last summer's Gaza war, Khader Abu Seif was living with his then Israeli boyfriend in Tel Aviv, wondering whether Hamas rockets could reach them from the coastal strip.

He thought yet again of the dichotomy of his life as a gay Arab Israeli citizen considered an outcast by the Palestinian society for his sexuality and viewed with unease by some Israelis for his brand of nationality.

The rockets were not the only thing that made him feel unsafe.

Outside, Israeli extremists rallied on the streets against Hamas' attacks with chants of "Death to Arabs." Abu Seif was afraid to speak Arabic, his mother tongue, in his native Tel Aviv, the Middle East's most gay-friendly city.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2015/07/30/new-film-highlights-struggles-of-gay-palestinians-in-israel

Cross-posted in the LGBT Group.

[azurnoir]

1. kicking this article should be -in it's entirety

the first 2/3's of page 1 of 2 is the usual stuff, but from there it gets quite interesting