Mideast Piece

It’s winter but the beach is still full of hot guys here in the Middle East.

Muchas gracias to my buddy Alan for the pics!

Wanna find a man for your happy furture? Stop living in the past! Look, if the very idea of another rejection and having to separate your CD collection (Do people still buy CDs anyway?!) after the breakup makes you run for the hills, that’s ok. But feel the fear and go for love anyway. It’s worth it! There’s no reason that just because you’ve had more breakups than (fill in fav hottie Hollywood star name here) that the next relationship won’t work. You’ve gotta get back on the saddle in order to ride up Brokeback Mountain!

If grinding to Top 40 American music in a smoke-filled, tiny bar is your idea of fun, than Shushan - Jerusalem’s sole gay bar - might just do it for you. Fortunately for those of us who don’t like smoke and all things small, Shushan boasts a nice array of Jewish, Arab and visiting international boys eager to meet and greet.

The name “Shushan” (also the street the bar is on) comes from the Jewish holiday Purim, where the Jews of ancient Persia’s Shushan are saved from the genocidal plot of an anti-Semitic mad-man (sound familiar?). The holiday includes elements of disguise, double-speak and girl power, so Shushan is a more than appropriate name for a gay bar.

The bar sits not far from City Hall and the venerable walls of the Old City, in addition to being close to the East/West Jerusalem informal border. This makes it easy for Arab hotties to come in any night of the week, including for Monday’s infamous drag night.

Shushan’s crude exterior - including warehouse door, no windows, and no rainbow anything - conceals the steamy nature of what’s inside. Because it’s the only gay bar in town, its often packed with more than 100 gay men, lesbians, fag hags and assorted groupies. The bartenders - ranging from muscle-bound Ethiopian Israelis to scruffy, recently released soldiers - are friendly, and so are most of the patrons, but keep in mind there’s little room for “action” is this space no larger than big one-bedroom apartment.

Mideast Piece is proud to bring you our regular feature “MEP’s Love Guide”. With a few tips and simple advice, we’re going to help you find, keep, and stay happy with a man! No matter if you’re from Kfar Saba, Beirut, or Dubai, gay men in the Middle East are looking for the same thing (besides that!) - true love.

The secret to finding love is positive thinking. You’ve got to believe in order to achieve! Love is possible! If J. Edgar Hoover can have a boyfriend, so can you! So stop with all that negative thinking and self talk! Brush your teeth. Comb your hair and get out there!

In our mission statement, we promised you a whole new world of hot Middle Eastern men breaking down all kinds of barriers. One of the best ways to gawk at hotties is of course on the silver screen, or your own TV set. In our first round of “Pieces on Film,” we’re recommending two relatively recent Israeli films from the talented gay director Eytan Fox.

We love The Bubble (2006, pictured above) because it features a steamy gay romance between a Jew and an Arab. The Jew and Arab in question are actors Ohad Knoller and Yossef Sweid, both of whom appear often without their shirts on and/or locking lips. Though trapped in the sometimes vapid “bubble” of Tel Aviv and surrounded by violence, these hotties remain true to themselves (and their basic instincts) throughout this soap opera-esque romp through secrets, prejudices and the colorful streets of Tel Aviv.

Though straight, Ohad Knoller made his biggest splash playing yet another hot homo in 2002’s Yossi and Jagger, also directed by Eytan Fox. This already iconic gay film features two Israel soldiers (Knoller and the dreamy Yehuda Levi) engaging in forbidden love while on duty near the border with Lebanon.

Though gays are allowed to be “out” in the IDF, these two studs are just starting their journey down the Yellow Brick Road, and mum’s the word for now. The playful Yossi and more reserved Jagger are pretty much relegated to sneaking quick dry humps in the snow and longful glances across the mess hall of their unit’s bunker. This is one of those hand-held camera, almost reality TV show-esque romps, and a must-see for its prime assortment of sexy soldiers minus any political/historical commentary.

Here are some other photos of Yehuda Levi, who many consider Israel’s current #1 actor/model/sexpot. I for one wouldn’t mind a quick roll in the snow with this dark young stallion who, though straight, does not mind playing gays (and is damn good at it).

For years, Arab governments have come down hard on homosexuals. You just have to Google “Arab governments come down hard on homosexuals” to find stories of gays thrown into the slammer and - sometimes - even killed for the crime of being a friend of Dorothy.

Thanks to the Internet, gays worldwide are able to meet and greet like never before, even those gays living within societies where gay persecution is rampant. As a matter of fact, some of the hottest photos, stories and personal profiles in gay cyberspace are coming straight out of Arab countries where - for most gay men - the Internet is their only gay bar.

Fortunately for North Americans like this blog’s horn-dog authors, many of these super-sexy Arab men have a craving for Americans. There’s nothing like an American invasion and occupation to get these studs’ heartrates pumping. For some gay Arab men, pounding an American dude is one way of “getting back” and restoring some of their pride.

Conversely, an Arab dude getting pounded by New Jersey Nate can make both men feel more closely connected to current events, and the “seeding” of the Middle East by other Anglo men with big guns.

You all know that I don’t get into politics on this blog and I don’t like to talk about the “situation” here in Israel either. I leave that to others to chat about. What I do get into are hot and sexy men. But check out this macho Israel police officer that came to retrieve a rocket that was launched from Gaza into a southern Israeli community. It makes me want to have an emergency myself!

Even in the winter you can enjoy the beach in the Middle East. My e-friend Alan caught this guy in Tel Aviv.

I love the store bought cake in the foreground of this shot. Definitely sweet stuff!

Anyone who’s been to the Middle East knows that the men around here love to hug, kiss and grope each other - especially the straight ones! Those Puritan-era inhibitions about body contact and sex inherited by modern Americans simply do not apply to to this part of the world, and it’s a good thing.

There is nothing quite like Middle Eastern men greeting each other or saying goodbye. Hands clasp the backs of necks, and sometimes asses, and - quite regularly - lips meet for a quick embrace. This behavior is not considered “gay” by any means, but rather a sign of warm friendship.

My friend Josh is a soldier in the Israeli army, and after fighting in Lebanon some of his unit went on a hiking vacation in Turkey. Quite a few of his photos are of hunky soldiers, totally naked, posing next to waterfalls, mountain views and cliffs. It was quite a struggle to conceal my raging hard-on while we watched the slide-show on his laptop.

Josh is California-born, scruffy, and in possesion of a killer smile and plush bubble butt. He is as straight as they come, and knows I am gay, so I’m sure he got a kick out of showing me shots from his IDF Naked Vacation.

For a full minute I thought about offering him a slow, deep blow job in gratitude for protecting the country in Lebanon. Surely a blow job from a guy could not be too much gay-er than taking dozens of outdoor nudie shots with his buddies for an entire week? Soon after my fantasy began to rage in earnest, his girlfriend walked in.

The male affection norms apply to Middle Eastern men regardless of religion or nationality. The two dorky-looking Arab men above are sharing a quick kiss outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. They don’t have to worry about gay-bashing or the Purity Police throwing the book at them. Here in the Middle East, it’s far more acceptable for men to behave like this in public than it is for a man and a woman (ever hear of the Taliban, or the mullahs?). No, you don’t need to go to San Francisco to catch some hot public man-on-man action.

Dear Friends,

You’ve seen them in newspapers and on television and - if you’re lucky - in person on the street. Dark skinned, muscles bulging, and some form of weapon strapped to their backs. For your viewing pleasure, their olive pants are a bit too small, providing the perfect showcase for a nice plush tuchus and well-trained thighs.

These men in uniform travel in packs, often crammed into jeeps, hummers or - again, if you’re lucky - the seat next to you on the bus. Dark sunglasses often hide their eyes, but that just adds to the mystery. Their belts look a little complicated, but - trust us - you’d be able to tear one off fast enough if need be..

Whether Jewish or Arab, these men in green roam the Middle East’s most western edge like stray cats in a vacant lot. Ostensibly on duty to protect their people, Israeli and Palestinian security forces have often found themselves fighting each other. This is a pity. These men are so trim and hot and sexy that the Middle East cannot afford to lose even a few of them.

In this part of the world, we’ve got women in burkas and men in canvas robes, and one too many angry Lebanese “freedom fighters.” The sight of hot young soldiers manning checkpoints, conducting body searches and in general standing guard is like a desert oasis. Even a pudgy, cross-eyed goon looks better in a tight uniform and military-issued boots. Since so many Mideast men serve in the military or security forces, they often remain trim and taut for years, becoming hot daddies and salt-n-pepper studs.

The Middle East, you might have heard, is a sea of bitter, angry and hostile people. Every day on the news, you hear about what’s been blown up – a bus, a mosque, a nightclub, a weapons depot. As the creators of Mideast Piece, we believe there’s only one thing that should be getting blown in the Middle East. This “thing,” this object of our affection, admiration and – yes – lust, is the Middle Eastern man himself, or at least the youngish hot ones not connected to terrorism.

As two gay men living in Israel – one in Tel Aviv, the undisputed gay capital of the region, and the other in Jerusalem, the divided Jewish/Arab Holy City – we invite you to join us on a journey between the legs of this most delicious of local species. Once a critical mass of man-hunters (including women) around the world recognizes the unparalleled beauty of surly Middle Eastern men, we are confident the international community will finally force an end to the conflict.

Please join us in lusting after the local flavors. Whether Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze, or Bedouin, there’s something tasty for everyone. Just don’t eat too fast.

Shalom and Salaam,

John and Matt
Founders, Mideast Piece

Our Mission

Mideast Piece: Road Map for Peace