 Lee Walzer:
Between Sodom and Eden
a gay journey through today's changing israel
Astonishingly, Israeli lesbians and gays have been able to achieve many
political goals that still elude America's gay community. Israel's Supreme Court
has mandated same-sex spousal benefits; the military, which never barred gays to
begin with, has removed its last official restrictions; Israel's parliament
boasts a Subcommittee for the Prevention of Sexual Orientation Discrimination;
and school curricula are gay-friendly - all of this in a country where religious
interests wield extraordinary power and whose identity today is the object of
fierce struggle.
Between Sodom and Eden is the first book to explore this rapidly changing
landscape. Through interviews with lesbian and gay activists, Knesset members,
military officials, educators, ordinary Israeli citizens and Palestinians, Lee
Walzer profiles this emerging community and today's Israeli society - a society
riven by religious, ethnic, and cultural cleavages.
He explores how, within a
decade, Israel has evolved from a society that marginalized homosexuals to one
that offers some of the most extensive legal protections in the world. He traces
the political, religious, and social factors that make Israel a gay rights
trendsetter, examining the interplay between Judaism and homosexuality, the
growing prominence of gay themes in Israeli literature, film, music, and
television, and the role of the media in advancing lesbian and gay political
progress.
The author, Lee Walzer, on
A country's remarkable journey
25. Februar 2000 - -
I undertook writing this book out of a driving curiosity as a gay man and as
a Jew: How did Israel, the land that gave us the Bible with its reputed
condemnation of homosexuality, metamorphose in little more than a decade
into one of the most progressive countries in the world on gay rights?
My journey for answers took me across Israel-- from Holy Jerusalem to
secular Tel Aviv, from Palestinian towns to kibbutzim -- and left me
pondering some of the fundamental challenges facing the Jewish state today
as it embarks on its second 50 years of existence: What constitutes Israeli
identity today? Is Israel still a "Jewish state"? What challenges does the
transition from a collective society to one that celebrates individualism
pose to a state approaching an uneasy peace with its neighbors and
increasing conflict between Jews within? Gay rights provides a wonderful
prism through which to examine these questions.
Israel, where the concept of gay community is looser than in American
society but where progress toward equality has come much faster, raises
fascinating questions for lesbians and gay men as well -- about same-sex
identity and its place in the wider culture and in the political strategies
used to obtain equality and liberation for sexual minorities.
My journey through late 1990s Israel and its burgeoning lesbian and gay
community led me to unexpected discoveries as a gay person and as a Jew. I
wish you an equally delightful, thought-provoking journey. "Between Sodom and Eden" traces Israeli's gay and lesbian community over the
last decade, charting its progress in mainstream society over the past decade.
As a gay person, a lover of Israeli culture, and a Jew, Walzer presents the
issues as both an insider and as an outsider--an American looking in and not
quite belonging. His vantage point is just one twist in a thoroughly fascinating,
original read.
About the Author
Lee Walzer is a Washington, DC-based attorney, writer, and former vice
president of the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Jewish
Organizations.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts with high honors from the University of
Michigan in political science and French, where he also pursued studies in
Hebrew and Arabic. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the Northwestern
University School of Law in Chicago.
Walzer has written for publications ranging from the Washington Jewish Week
to Outlines to the late Israeli daily Davar Rishon. His undergraduate thesis, "The
Israeli-South African Relationship: Its Development and Rationale," was
published in the Michigan Journal of Political Science.
The Press
Amazon.de Rezension
From Beliefnet
In May 1994, the author and his spouse Kevin visited Yad Vashem, Israel's
Holocaust museum, to attend a memorial service honoring the gays and
lesbians who had died in the Holocaust. But the gathering was rudely
interrupted: Angry demonstrators ran out of the crowd towards the service
leaders, shouting that the service was a desecration to Yad Vashem, and that
the gatherers deserved to die. Israeli police had to drag some of the
demonstrators outside, where a group of Orthodox Jews was also protesting
the service. The event rattled the Walzer-and sparked his curiosity.
"Between Sodom and Eden" traces Israeli's gay and lesbian community over
the last decade, charting its progress in mainstream society over the past
decade. As a gay person, a lover of Israeli culture, and a Jew, Walzer
presents the issues as both an insider and as an outsider--an American
looking in and not quite belonging. His vantage point is just one twist in a
thoroughly fascinating, original read.
This text, based on interviews with over 100 Israelis, as well as
Palestinians, explores how, within a decade, Israel has evolved from a
society that marginalized homosexuals to one that offers one of the most
extensive legal protections in the world.
Publishers Weekly, March 6, 2000
This engaging journalistic foray into everyday gay and lesbian life and
culture in [Israel]...brimming with surprising information and conclusions.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover edition.
Washington Post, July 26, 2000
Walzer has crafted the definitive resource on gay Israel, and an
essential glimpse into the country's broader social wars.
In Newsweekly, July 19, 2000
[A] well-written, thoughtful, and important book with political insights
that will interest Jews and non-Jews alike.
The Forward, June 23, 2000
Illuminating...Walzer's well-paced work takes us through the last decade
of political progress for gays and lesbians...
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, May 5, 2000
Walzer carefully builds up the edifice of an extraordinarily intricate
country caught up in numerous struggles -- internal and external....
The Forward, June 23, 2000
Illuminating...Walzer's well-paced work takes us through the last decade
of political progress for gays and lesbians... --This text refers to the
Hardcover edition.
Joshua Gamson, Yale University, author of Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk
Shows and Sexual Nonconformity
Animated by diverse voices-gay soldiers and kibbutzniks, Palestinian
activists, lesbian politicians and mothers, the many tribes of modern Israel-Between
Sodom and Eden reveals the startling burst of lesbian and gay politics in
Israel and the often painful cultural challenges that accompany it. It is an
important analysis not just of gay people but of Israel itself, with all its
lively idiosyncrasies, animosities, and delights. This is the definitive ride
through gay and lesbian life in Israel, and you couldn't ask for a better guide
than Walzer, who takes you there with an insider's passion and an outsider's
insight.
Urvashi Vaid, author of Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and
Lesbian Liberation and director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Policy Institute
Between Sodom and Eden is critical to understanding the existence and
emergence of movements for gay and lesbian freedom around the world. The
evidence of a thriving lesbian and gay movement in Israel is cogently presented
in this ground-breaking, readable and fascinating book. Walzer analyzes the
roots, dynamics and potential of the Israeli movement and makes visible the
elements of the process by which deep social change is made.
Michal Eden, Tel-Aviv-Yafo city councilor, Israel's first lesbigay official
Walzer portrays, in amazing accuracy, an entire chapter of Israeli
history to date never before documented, and thereby he shatters the Israeli
heterosexist ethos.
David Tuller, author of Cracks in the Iron: Closet: Travels in Gay and
Lesbian Russia
A fascinating, provocative and highly readable exploration of the nature
of sexual identity in one of the world's most complex societies. With a
reporter's keen eye and a scholar's critical intelligence, Lee Walzer offers us
a compelling look at the tumultuous, joyful, determined, bittersweet, brave, and
often surprising lives of Israeli gays and lesbians.
Rebecca Alpert, Temple University, author of Like Bread on the Seder Plate:
Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition
This book tells the story of the development of a gay and lesbian rights
movement in Israel. Walzer keenly analyzes this vibrant, if hidden, dimension of
Israeli culture.
Jerusalem Post, July 14, 2000
[A] well-written snapshot of the status of homosexuality in Israel at the
end of the 20th century... --This text refers to the
Hardcover edition.
Leserrezensionen
Durchschnittliche
Kundenbewertung:
Between Sodom and Eden - appeals to a broad audience!
29. März 2000
Rezensentin/Rezensent Washington, DC:
"Between Sodom and Eden" represents an astounding tour de force. Walzer's book
is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Israeli society and
politics, as well as the sometimes surprising approach of Judaism to
homosexuality. His prose brings alive the tensions, conflicts, and
contradictions of a society in search of its identity as Israel becomes an
increasingly multicultural, post-Zionist society. That Israel is one of the most
progressive countries in the world today on gay rights will surprise most
Americans, who think of the Jewish state as the land of the story of Sodom and
Gomorrah (with its reputed condemnation of homosexuality). The cast of
characters in Walzer's book -- a transsexual pop Diva, openly gay high school
students and kibbutzniks, lesbian politicians, and a cast of supportive straight
politicians and educators, to name just a few -- guarantees new surprises on
each page.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Preface Acknowledgments Transliteration Guide Introduction
How a Nice Gay Jewish Boy Came to Write This Book Together in Pride,
Together in Hope: Lesbian and Gay Politics in Israel Yotzim m'ha-Aron:
Coming Out The Personal Is the Political: Judaism and Gay People in Israel
Gays with Guns: Gays in the Military, Israeli Style Media, Culture, and
Visibility Hereinafter the Boyfriend: Same-Sex Families in Israel Out on the
Farm: Gay Life in the Kibbutzim Twice Marginalized: To Be Gay and
Palestinian in Israel Conclusion Kadima--Looking Ahead Afterword Glossary
Appendix Notes Bibliography Index Copyright Acknowledgments
Also from Lee Walzer:
Gay Rights On Trial
a Reference Handbook
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