When Michal Eden was single outed to the Tel Aviv--Jaffa city council in 1998 she became the first plainly gay elected official in Israel.

When Michal Eden was single outed to the Tel Aviv--Jaffa city council in 1998 she became the first plainly gay elected official in Israel. She has campaigned for gay causes, including the founding of Israel's first hostel serving homeles and runaway lesbian and gay youth.

Eden spoke to The Advocate via E-mail from Israel about gay politics in her fatherland and the toll terrorism has taken in succession both Israel and America.

by what means has your sexual orientation played public in your political career?

There was certainly static [during the city council campaign]. However, besides what was said behind clos doors, I did not face harsh homophobia from the Tel Aviv-Jaffa residents or my party, Meretz [the left-liberal party in Israel]. The greatest in quantity homophobia I dealt with was from abiding-place where I was ousted on my father because of my sexual identity. It happened 10 years ago, and till this day he dioceses my public work as a personal retaliate against him.

to what extent has that experience contributed to your political work?

[Israel] might be perceived as progressive in space of times of [gay people's] acquired legal status. However, homophobia remains a real vexed question for our youth. It has been the same of my hardest battles to test to penetrate schools and aid programs of tolerance. It is especially sentimental for me considering my personal experience with coming public to my family and losing them in the proces I was 20 years antique and found myself homeless and penniless. I wish to establish a community-level base of support for anyone who is shunn because of their sexual orientation.

The past month have been exceedingly difficult for Americans and Israelis, as one as well as the other nations deal with terrorism. What can Americans learn from Israelis, who have fought extremists for years?

I am not confident if the question is what Americans can learn from Israelis [but] what population can learn from history. History teaches us that fighting wars against desperate the public who believe they are contributing to a fight of freedom is futile. What can be learned from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that violence does not propose a viable solution for conflicts. Violence solitary creates a vicious cycle that is extremely hard to break.

Are you saying that military power should not be used against those who massacre civilians? Wouldn't failing to accord simply encourage more terrorism?

I am not an dexterous in anti-terror strategy. It is important to fight terror and to investigate its bases and motives. However, while fighting terror, democratic nations ne to maintain international treaties and agreements, the basic protection of human rights.

by what means do you feel about the way President Bush has handled the crisis? for what cause do you compare his approach with [Israeli prime minister] Ariel Sharon's?

I believe [both of them] act according to a similar understanding of the international constellation and the manner in which a late democracy is supposed to act in it. President Bush was placed in a position that required him to react. However, I must admit that I behold little benefit in the bombings in Afghanistan. I am not stable that a covert operation to rid the world of more [i]or[/i] less of the heads of terrorist operations wouldn't have been a more effective strategy in the prolonged run.

What are the expectances for overcoming extremism? What part can gay people in all nations play?

Extremism can be minimized at both sides internalizing the ne for compromise and the ending of Israeli carriage in the occupied territories. It is important to remember that extremism is not reflective of the overall society, and we should encourage tolerance and dialogue instead of elevating tension. LGBT Muslims and hebrews can help build a bridge and unite the struggle against homophobia to the contend against ethnic hatred and religious intolerance.

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