Mideast Piece

Gotta love Israeli music!

As part of Tori Amos’ world tour to promote her new album “American Doll Posse”, the piano playing diva will preform in Turkey and Israel. In Israel she will perform at the Ra’anana Amphitheater July 21.

Check out other tour dates and venues at Tori’s website. The clip below is not for young ears…and maybe not your workplace.

Enjoy!

You’ve probably seen the Coke and Mentos vids by now. You probably haven’t seen one like this though. Sticky and hot.

Though I am a mid-20’s kind of gay guy, my closeted years were enhanced by a lot of gay icons who (a) are not gay men and (b) are typically associated with gay men born a generation before me.

Chief among those grand dames to whom my heart really belongs is none other than Barbra Streisand. Ah, Babs. They simply do not make them like Barbra anymore. That voice, that gaze, that gusto…that nose!

A few minutes ago I was thinking about Babs (don’t ask why) and remembered her Oscar-winning performance in 1968’s Funny Girl. Within five, maybe seven seconds, I realized this movie is quite related to our site (lucky for you). Barbra plays legendary performer Fanny Brice, and her love interest in the movie is played by none other than Omar Sharif, the internationally-known Egyptian actor (there they are above in the movie!)

The film caused quite a stir at the time because Barbra, a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn, shared quite a few deep kisses with Omar, whose native country had just been crushed by Israel in the Six Day War. Barbra allegedly received death threats leading up to a public performance, setting the stage for a decades-long hiatus from the stage.

The movie brings us gay-man torch songs like “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “My Man” and, of course, “People.” A Jewish woman and an Arab man launch a torrid romance, Oscars follow, and the world kept spinning.

What ever happened to musicals? (And divas wearing bras?)

Last night I went to a showing of Jerusalem is Proud to Present at the DocAviv documentary film festival here in Tel Aviv. I was impressed by the large crowd that turned up for the film. Just like other pride events, it was great to be surrounded by “my” community, our supporters, and other cool people just looking for an interesting documentary film for a Friday night.

I had low expectations for the film and I guess that’s why I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it. The movie is about all the ups and downs that were associated with putting on World Pride 2005 - that became World Pride 2006. It shows how World Pride (and accordingly the LGBTQ civil right movement in the Middle East) was forced to take a back seat to the pull out from Gaza in 2005, a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, and violent protests from the ultra-orthodox community in Israel.

I was living in Jerusalem during the planning for World Pride and was a volunteer at the Jerusalem Open House (the GLBTQ organization that put the event together) at the time. I led the English speakers meetings there and help to recruit people from around the globe to attend the event. It was a very frustrating experience and watching the movie made those memories fresh in my mind. It also reminded me how much work we still have to do here regarding GLTBQ issues and human rights in this neck of the woods. Matt and I feel that this blog is our way of making the Middle East a better place for gays, lesbians, bi, trans and queer people. Yes, we bring you hot guys (nothing wrong with that!), but in our hearts we’re social activists that are doing the best we can to make a difference. You can help us in our work by becoming a Mideast Piece Ambassador. A few folks have already made contributions and we really appreciate your help!

Here are a couple of YouTube videos of Jerusalem World Pride 2006. The first clip is a news report in Russian! I tried to find an English one - but watch anyway. You’ll see the event and all the police protection that was necessary to protect our civil rights to march, gather, and speak freely. The second video is someone’s personal clip of part of the concert portion of the celebration.