For years now I have been going and seeing movies that are part of Nefest, the NY GLBT Film Festival. Besides the obvious silly gay films from around the world, I am often struck by some of the documentaries. I tend to see about 12 movies, with a 50/50 breakdown of serious to fun.

Last night Idan and I saw Be Like Others, a film about Iranian boys undergoing sex change operations to become female. My understanding, from the film, is that homosexuality is forbidden, but transexuals need to be medically treated and in fact the state help pay for this treatment and care.

The movie is very well done, simply, is shows you many sides of the issue in Iran and lets you make up your own mind. That said, it does confront several issue head on; if you cannot be an openly gay male, what other choice do you have?

There are several different people profiled. Vida, is a transexual who is very happy with being a women now. She turns out to be a leader type, even mother figure, to other men seeking this operation. She is the only one in the film who is very obviously ok with what she has chosen.

Anoosh and her boyfriend are kind of a sad case. Before the operation the boyfriend as very loving and kind, later in the movie, post-operation the boyfriend is obviously unhappy and distant. Who can guess why this happened, but it because clear that he probably was in reality gay and is no longer attracted to Anoosh now that he is a female.

There are also several people who, as time progresses, choose not to have the operation. You are welcomed into their fears, how they are treated by strangers and family, as well as the strict Iranian society.

The other point of view you are shown is of a transaexual who post-op has no choice but to arrange temprary Islamic marraiges. This is a form of legal prostitution.

Overall the movie leaves you with a sense of sadness for these Iranian boys and you wonder how they would be if they lived in NYC where being gay isn’t a cause for surgery and moreover, what the exact nature of sexual identity and sexual orientation are. It is indeed very complicated.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Watch Frontline

Iran, Iraq, Global Warming, Technology Gap, Drugs for Kids, Suburban Despair, Lawlessness of USA, Katrina, White House as THE SEAT OF ALL EVIL, WHO WILL WE VOTE FOR? WHAT KIND OF NATION WILL BE?

Hot on the heals of accusations of war crimes, excessive force, and other hot air from the Old World there comes news of an impending problem in Gaza:

Yuval Diskin, director of Israel’s Shin Bet Security Services, told the Knesset last month that since the Jewish state withdrew from Gaza, the Palestinians successfully have transferred from the neighboring Egyptian Sinai desert hundreds of tons of advanced rockets; anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles; rocket propelled grenades; raw explosives; rifles; ammunition and other heavy weaponry.
…
“If we don’t move to counter this smuggling, it will continue and create a situation in Gaza similar to the one in southern Lebanon,” Diskin said.

And the response from the terrorists:

“I think Diskin made those statements to try to distract the Israelis from their losses in Lebanon by focusing on another area, but he is right. We are turning Gaza into south Lebanon.” (emphasis added)

Well EU and UN where are you now? Haven’t you been supposedly monitoring the crossing between Egypt and Gaza? Look what a good job you have been doing. Better yet, at the head of this effort are the Italians. Again, soccer, yes, clothing, yes, hard work and diplomacy, no. How’s suggesting that we mail Iran nukes for diplomacy? No thanks, back to your pasta, please.

Europe: you have the warning, you have the will, so it seems, immediately if you want to prevent 500,000 Palestinian deaths, do something about this situation. Explain to them that poking the snake is not going to get them what they want. Terrorists might kill 100 Israelis, but they still will live in the shit box of Gaza, with no power, no government, no economy, no social welfare, no nothing.

I am scared, however, because the response from Israel to a large attack from Gaza will not be minor given the post Lebanon ‘06 mindset. That is the Aquarian in me, the New Yorkers in me says, lay waste while the sun shines.

I admit that I got swept up in the hype over the cartoons of The Prophet, may he not rest in peace at the horror of the actions of his followers, when I got in a fight with a cab driver and told him to chill out for he was very angry. I then suggested he might want to take out his prayer rug from the trunk and pray to Allah for peace. When he was enraged (which was the point, duh), I told him that if that upset him, I have some cartoons to show him. Score one for multiculturalism here in NYC. Anyway, I have been trying to get copies of the Iranian repartee cartoons but no luck so far, only text descriptions are online.

Most of the descriptions seem to be prerecorded, phoned in from the normal set of stereotypes of Jews. But this one is great:

That sentiment finds expression in a split-image cartoon from a Brazilian entrant in which a stand-up comic is portrayed performing in a venue called the West Club. In one image, captioned ‘Making jokes about Islam’, the comedian is greeted with raucous laughter. But the accompanying picture, marked ‘Making jokes about the Holocaust’, shows him being booted out of the window.

Did this genius miss the whole The Producers hype? The whole thing is a spoof on accounting, production, and THE HOLOCAUST! Maybe someone should send him a copy of the soundtrack so he can sing along to the mocking of Hitler, Germany, and so on. I cannot imagine anyone reading this has not heard of The Producers…

As has been noted, no one is burning anything in the streets, in fact this topic is hardly in the news here. I even would relish the MoMA or The Met doing an exhibition on the history of antisemetic or racist cartoons which includes both the Danish and the Iranian cartoons. Often you can examine your own perceptions of race, the changes in culture, and just laugh at the cliches. Do I need to point out the juxtaposition here, I doubt it.

So says this week’s The Economist cover story. A quote from the opening paragraph:

Israel’s prime minister set himself an absurd aim�the complete demolition of Hizbullah’s power in Lebanon�and failed to achieve it. The shrewder Mr Nasrallah said victory would consist merely of surviving, and Hizbullah, however battered, did survive.

They want to be martyrs? We should give them what they want. The paper, once again, proves why it is far more balanced and insightful than most news sources out there:

But peace does not depend only on Israel. Six years ago Israel withdrew from Lebanon to a border painstakingly demarcated by the UN. Hizbullah fought on anyway. Like Iran, it says its aim is Israel’s destruction. Though an authentic political movement with a domestic agenda in Lebanon, it is also blatantly anti-Semitic. Mr Nasrallah once reflected that collecting the Jews in Palestine made them easier to wipe out.

Lets keep that in mind, shall we? I have noted my remarkable change in perspective on this issue and it is multifaceted. I used to think we in the west are getting what we deserve for our policies of the past, and this might still be partially true. Now, however, I am starting to get very worried about the survival of the enlightenment and how it has started to effect my life, my friends, my country, and my planet. There is an interesting and related article in Tikkun this month. When it is on line I will write more about it.