Photo Credit:
A suspect was picked up in B'nei B'rak on Wednesday.

Police arrests of four suspects in the murder of three homosexual youth in 2009 disproves the former libel that Haredim, or possibly other Orthodox Jews, carried out the murders as a hate crime.

Following the arrest of three Jewish suspects Wednesday, police have arrested a fourth man who is a “prominent member” in the homosexual and lesbian community. He was not necessarily involved in the murder, but he possessed information concerning the identity of the murdered at the “BarNoar” center in Tel Aviv, police said.

Advertisement




If the police department’s conclusions are correct, it is clear the murders were not a hate crime against homosexuals, and it appears the motives were personal vengeance. Conceivably, the suspects could be orthodox, but they clearly did not kill out of hate for homosexuals.

The real hate is against orthodox and Haredi Jews.

The homosexual community protested the murders and blamed Haredim, particularly the Shas religious party.

“I warned in a column last year that Israel is a place which, on the one hand has liberal laws, but on the other does not attempt to counter homophobia,” Danny Zak, a gay activist and journalist, told the Jerusalem Post during the demonstration. “A murder was waiting to happen,” Zak added.

“The Shas party has the blood of two innocent kids on their hands. Shas has blamed gays for earthquakes and diseases. This is incitement, but no one is put on trial for it.”

If the police are correct and have indeed nabbed the killers, the homosexual community will have to do a lot of soul-searching, as Israeli media and political parties in the center and left still should be doing over the accusations that the entire national religious and settler community was responsible for the assassination of Rabin.

Advertisement

SHARE
Previous articleHow To Say ‘Sunscreen’ in Hebrew
Next articleRobbers ‘Dressed Like Haredim’ Clean Out Jewish Jeweler
Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu is a graduate in journalism and economics from The George Washington University. He has worked as a cub reporter in rural Virginia and as senior copy editor for major Canadian metropolitan dailies. Tzvi wrote for Arutz Sheva for several years before joining the Jewish Press.