He Tried To Kill In The Name Of God

When it comes to LGBT equality, Israel has one of the best--if not the best--record in the Middle East.  

That makes what happened in Jerusalem yesterday all the more distressing.

Yishai Schlissel, an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man, stabbed six marchers in the city's Pride parade.  Two of the victims are in serious condition.  Not long after he attacked, Schlissel was pinned to the ground and arrested on a central Jerusalem street.

He had just been released from prison after ten years of incarceration.  He was locked up for a very similar attack not far from where he struck yesterday.  In his rampage a decade ago, three marchers were stabbed.

The Jerusalem Pride march is smaller than the one in Tel Aviv.  But, the one in Jerusalem attracts more ire from ultra-religious Christians and Muslims as well as Jews, who see homosexuality as an "abomination", as Schlissel put it and the march as a "defilement" of their sacred city.

They probably think what Schlissel said out loud:  He'd come to the march to "kill in the name of God."

Haven't we heard that one before?

Israel Protects LGBT Students

Last week, the Israeli Knesset passed a law prohibiting discrimination against students based on gender identity or sexual orientation.  The law is actually an amendment to laws pertaining to the rights of the student.  Still, it is significant because it actually identifies gender identity as one of the ways in which one can be discriminated against.

What's especially gratifying, apart from the fact that it passed in a country that has laws based on religion, is that such a wide majority voted for it.  Only two of the twenty-seven members of the Knesset opposed it; the other twenty-five said "yes".

And Dov Henin, who introduced the bill, said that its purpose is "to protect not only the students in the LGBT community--it is there to protect us all".

I know Israel is only the size of New Jersey and has half the population. Still, I have to ask:  If Israel can do it, why can't this country?