by David Frum
I'm late getting to this WSJ oped by Jamie Kirchick, but it has important truths about subjects of intense interest to AndrewSullivan.com readers:
Earlier this month Madrid celebrated its annual gay pride festival, reputed to be the largest in Europe. ...
The municipality of Tel Aviv had originally planned to sponsor a float in the Madrid parade. But Spain's Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transgenders and Bisexuals revoked the invitation following Israel's raid on the Gaza flotilla that ended with nine dead pro-Hamas activists.
"After what has happened, and as human rights campaigners, it seemed barbaric to us to have them taking part," the Federation's president, Antonio Poveda, explained. "We don't just defend our own little patch."
Mr. Poveda chose to ignore the video evidence supporting Israel's account of self defense. But even if Israeli soldiers were at fault, why Israeli gays should be made to answer for the actions of their government was something that Mr. Poveda never bothered to explain. ...
Like so many other democratic values, when it comes to gay rights Israel is an oasis in a sea of state-sanctioned repression, a "little patch," to use Mr. Poveda's words, that he and his comrades ought to defend. Gays serve openly in the Israeli military. While gay marriages can't be legally performed in Israel, the government grants gay couples many of the same rights as heterosexual ones and recognizes same-sex unions performed abroad. Many Palestinian gays seek asylum in Israel. ...
This boycott will divide two minority communities that ought to be allies. One would be hard-pressed to find a country that oppresses its gays and treats its Jews well, or vice versa. From Nazi Germany to the modern Middle East, societies that persecute Jews will get to homosexuals eventually - if they haven't been dispensed with already. This is a lesson that gays ignore at their peril.