New play exposes terrifying limbo of gay Arabs seeking Israeli refuge - The Jewish Chronicle

The horrific beheading of a gay man in Hebron earlier this month has cast new light on the plight of LGBT Palestinians fleeing their homeland to seek sanctuary in Israel.

The body of Ahmad Abu Marhia, 25, was found in the West Bank city earlier this month. He had been living in Tel Aviv for two years and it is unclear what — or who — took him back to Hebron where he was brutally killed.

There was further controversy when the BBC was forced to apologise for unfairly mentioning Israeli homophobia in coverage of the Palestinian murder, as the JC revealed last week.

Ahmad Abu Maria (2) (Read-Only)

Ahmad Abu Maria

In truth, hundreds of gay Palestinians are believed to have fled their homes for asylum in Israel, says an Israeli writer who has written and directed a new play about it. But all too often, they end up in limbo as they struggle to make a life for themselves in the Jewish state.

The play, Sharif, premiered in Israel in September. Now its author, Tomer Aldubi, is hoping it will be staged in London.

Mr Aldubi told the JC he met tragic Mr Marhia once at a theatre group he had organised in Haifa for Jewish and Arab members of the LGBTQ community. He said Mr Marhia planned to emigrate to Canada and was waiting for a visa.

The murderers are believed, Mr Aldubi said, to have been members of Mr Marhia’s own extended family. The death is similar to the so-called “honour” killings sometimes carried out by Muslim families against women believed to have transgressed traditional boundaries.

The play — which has now been translated into English — took Mr Aldubi three years to write before it was performed in Israel.

“So far it’s been performed three times, twice in Haifa and once in Petah Tikva,” he said. “Next we’re going to stage it at the Jaffa theatre in Tel Aviv, which is a Jewish-Arab theatre.”

He recently travelled to London to seek backing for a British production.
Though he never thought anything so horrific would happen when he was writing Sharif, it was based on many stories and experiences that he was told by gay Palestinian men in Israel.

True stories: Playwright Tomer Aldubi

“The murder was something extreme. But the other stories, about the fears that they have, the problems with the IDF, with finding a job, a place to stay, the fear that someone will come looking for them — these kind of topics are all reflected in the play.

"For example, the father of Sharif, the main character, is about to die, and he understands that members of his family will come looking for him.”

He acknowledged that originally, LGBTQ Palestinians were reluctant to speak to him, partly because he is an Israeli Jew, but also because “it was very difficult for them to share their stories, bringing up whole traumas from the past”.

All the Palestinians he spoke to, Mr Aldubi said, live in fear of being killed.

“Some of them still had some connection with their families — perhaps just their mother, or an aunt or sister — but the other relatives would not accept the fact that the person was part of the LGBTQ community. That, of course, is why they flee to Israel in the first place.”

Mr Aldubi believes that some Palestinian gay men have been killed in the West Bank before they even got the chance to escape to Israel.

“I’m sure that people are killed there, but we will never know,” he said.

Mr Aldubi volunteers at an NGO in Haifa called “Different House”, which helps LGBTQ people find work and accommodation. He was not initially aware of the problems faced by gay Palestinians seeking refuge in Israel, but is hopeful that things will change in the wake of the murder.

He said the IDF and the civil authorities in Israel “can no longer hide” the way these asylum-seekers are treated and points out that a recent Israeli Supreme Court ruling will make it easier for those Palestinians permitted to stay in Israel to obtain work permits.

But even once in Israel, Mr Aldubi said, their problems are not over. “They are reluctant to stay in places with a large Arab population for fear that someone will know their families. Jerusalem is the most dangerous place for them.”

Add to that the often extremely basic Hebrew spoken by the men, and that work — even with a legal permit — is difficult or near- impossible to find. And, despite the Supreme Court ruling, the men frequently have no access to medical treatment, another issue highlighted in Mr Aldubi’s play.

“Officially, the number of Palestinians allowed into Israel to stay is about 90 people, mostly gay men, plus a few women fleeing domestic violence.These are the people who are given permits by the IDF to stay,” he said.

“But unofficially we believe that there are more than 100 — I think perhaps a few hundred — some of whom are simply here illegally.”

Mr Aldubi said he plans to send the script of Sharif to as many London theatres as he can.

He added he was happy to see that the Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush has already staged a play with a similar subject, about two gay Pakistani men.

Nevertheless, he admitted: “I am a bit afraid. Because I am an Israeli, and a Jew, and I live in Israel, I am worried that people will judge the author and not necessarily the content.”

Topics:

Israel

lgbtq

Theatre