Blessed Are The Believers

An interesting little tit-bit from a while back about culture and law in Israel.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has granted a Palestinian a rare residency permit after the man, who is gay, said his sexuality put his life in danger in the West Bank, a Defence Ministry official said on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old Palestinian from Jenin was issued a temporary permit to live with his Israeli partner in Tel Aviv after arguing he faced death threats from fellow Palestinians who disapproved of him being gay, the official said.

Israel's Interior Ministry rarely issues permits for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who want to live with their partners in Israel, regardless of sexuality. Requesting such a permit can take years.

"In this case the man's lawyer said his life was in danger because of his sexual preference," said Peter Lerner, spokesman for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, whose office comes under the defence ministry.

"On this basis we issued the temporary permit," he said.

It is things like this that make it hard for me to figure out groups like Queers For Palestine. They claim to be for liberation. All I see is a group favoring liberation for oppression rather than liberation from oppression. I guess Hope and Change spring eternal. Reminds me of the famous Biblical quote, "Blessed are the believers because they will follow idiots."

In fact Instapundit brought to my attention a post on that very subject by Eric S. Raymond.