Response to Jerusalem Open House, Al-Qaws, and Question for Elinor

    Reading about these institutions forced me to consider the LGBT community in Jerusalem for the first time. Discussion over the LGBT communities is a hotbed topic is cities throughout the world, but I never stopped to realize how little attention these groups get in places with a lot of political and social strife. It's just interesting to note how we forget about everyday issued that are common in every society when we have another issue which is brought into the limelight more often.
    I think the Jerusalem Open House is a wonderful group. It provides a means for people from the LGBT community to come together and create a new culture within Jerusalem that in not only brings together the LGBT people, but Israelis and Palestinians alike. Looking at their accomplishments, it is evident that they have done a lot in bringing people together within the community. Like I said before when we discussed the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, it doesn't matter the numbers a project can earn in uniting people, it's the relationships that these groups can create for the people it DOES reach. Yes, these groups don't bring everyone in Jerusalem together, but they do establish relationships between people, which is suffice and a good start in itself. My only worry with the JOH is the fact that the blog hasn't been added to in over a year, hopefully this doesn't represent any trouble with the project/group. It's important that the LGBT community in Jerusalem has this voice, because it scares me that because of all the other problems within the city, their rights and voices would be lost; this shows that hopefully this isn't so.
    I like that Al-Qaws gives a voice for ALL Palestinians- no matter the religion (Muslim, Christian, Druze). This prevents an already small minority within the larger minority group from being forgotten. Focusing on uniting LGBT of all backgrounds within the Palestinian community is important in establishing unified minority. Having these types of groups helps to establish Israel/Palestine as a modern, progressive community. Although, Jerusalem has a long way to go, for some of the material for tomorrow revealed a strong and somewhat violent opposition to such groups.
    The trailer for "City of Borders" was truly moving. It makes me incredibly happy to know that there are both Palestinians and Israelis hopping walls and risking their lives just to enjoy themselves in a space with the "other". The fact that there are such places within the cities is promising and I hope that this is reflecting the younger generations future aspirations for social ties between the two groups. It just shows that there a some from each group that do want a relationship with the other. This is definitely a documentary I would like to see.
***Question for Elinor: How much progress have you seen in improving the LGBT communities' role in social activism in the past 10 years? And where do you see the community 10 years from now?