Army’s ‘gay soldiers’ photo was staged, is misleading

[Scurrilous]

Male soldiers holding hands in IDF’s viral photograph are not a couple, only one is gay, and they both serve in spokesman’s unit

<snip>

"A picture of two male Israeli soldiers holding hands, posted by Israel’s military spokesman and circulated widely on the web this week as part of gay pride month, was staged and is misleading, The Times of Israel established Tuesday.

The newly hip, multimedia-savvy IDF Spokesperson’s Office posted Monday on its Facebook page a photo of two ostensibly gay soldiers, one seeming to belong to the Givati Brigade and the other to the Artillery Corps, holding hands and walking on a city street.

In fact, the two soldiers in the photo are not a couple, only one of the two is gay, and both the soldiers serve in the IDF Spokesperson’s Office.

The picture appears to have been taken on Itamar Ben Avi street in Tel Aviv, around the corner from the Spokesperson’s Office headquarters.

Contacted by The Times of Israel, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office did not deny the photo was staged, offering the following statement: “The photo reflects the IDF’s open minded attitude towards soldiers of all sexual orientations. The IDF respects the privacy of the soldiers featured in the photograph, and will not comment on their identities.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-gay-soldiers-photo-is-misleading-military-source-says/

[MADem]

1. So what--it's an illustration of a concept.

I mean, really--does anyone believe that if you crack open the bottle of Mister Clean and get ready to mop your floor, that a massive bald guy with an earring is going to show up and leer at you while you work?

[holdencaufield]

6. I was SO disappointed when that didn't happen NT

[MADem]

14. Ha ha! If he showed up at my place, I'd say--"You mop--I have a sore back!" mt

[azurnoir]

12. So are you equating Gays in Israel to a cartoon character?

oh I'm sure your not but your choice here is interesting, but still the question remains why didn't they use a real couple

[MADem]

13. No--I am saying that this is just an ad--the office making the ad did it quick and on the cheap.

It was an in-house job. They didn't hire an ad agency. They used available people who worked in the office.

They wanted to make note of the occasion, and they plainly didn't plan ahead and hold a contest or an audition and pick a couple of winners, and they also didn't hire professionals to model the ad for them.

This is quite characteristic of a military in-house roll-out of any print media for any publicized event. They weren't spending any real money on this, it was a quick-n-dirty illustration from the office responsible for the advertisement..."You and you! You're gonna be our happy couple!" CLICK and there ya go. It's no different than "You--stand there and salute!" CLICK! And the slob standing there saluting is on the front page of some halfassed "Welcome Aboard" or Family Services Center pamphlet.

I'm comparing Mister Clean to ANYTHING or ANYONE that one would see in an advertisement...I mean, come on--do you believe that every ad you see is "real?" That the picture of the happy family is really a happy family, or the picture of the caring pet owner is actually a person who owns that pet? They're illustrating a concept, is all. Why should two people modeling a scene, which is what those two are doing (for free, because they are on active duty) actually have to BE what the ad says they are, so long as they effectively convey the sentiment?

The Israelis were trying to endorse a concept, and they were doing it in-house with available assets. I think it completely sucks that they are getting dogged for it. It doesn't bother me that Neil Patrick Harris isn't really a hetero horn dog on his TV show--he's modeling the role and he does a fine job. That's how I look at this ad.

It's astounding that people are getting "upset" about it.

[azurnoir]

19. So you are saying that Israel is advertising that it's Gay friendly thanks n/t

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2012, 02:55 AM - Edit history (1)

[King_David]

2. Ha

[King_David]

3. more

[King_David]

4. A good movie.

Shhhhh but I think the actors in the movie are STRAIGHT !!! Shhhhh

[King_David]

5. A lot of Homophobic Extremists in Israel

Will love this 'expose' by the Times of Israel.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. ....

[azurnoir]

8. Why was it even necessary to stage a photo like this?

IDF* like the US treats Gay personal equally, so IDF couldn't find a real Gay couple to pose for it's Facebook page or didn't feel like looking, I find this kind of strange but what works to promote your country, perhaps these guys were better looking or something?

*IDF did it first around the same time as the Oslo accords

[holdencaufield]

9. I hate to break this too you...

... but Eric Bana isn't Jewish either.

[azurnoir]

11. Gee really? He isn't Turkish or Anatolian either

ps neither is Orlando Bloom

[Violet_Crumble]

21. You don't get the difference between Hollywood and real life?

Let me explain the difference. Eric Bana is an Australian actor. Everyone knows Munich is a movie and actors were portraying roles. What the IDF was was try to pass off real soldiers as being gay when they weren't. No biggie, but in very typical form for the IDF it was misleading and dishonest....

Not sure what any of this has to do with the I/P conflict. Are we all supposed to decide Israel rawks our world and start supporting the Occupation because the IDF is trying to promote a 'concept' about how gay-friendly Israel is?

[Scurrilous]

18. Hooray for Pallywood!

Sometimes fakin' it is OK, sometimes it ain't.

[azurnoir]

20. Depends on who your with I guess

[Violet_Crumble]

22. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that...

Apparently it's NEVER okay if it's Palestinians doing it, but when it's Israelis it becomes a clever PR concept and anyone who doesn't agree should be mocked for daring to question the mighty IDF

[King_David]

23. Well A lot of people really wish,

That Israel was not such a progressive country.

Eats away at them.



It ain't Pallwood when it's true.

[Violet_Crumble]

25. I doubt that very much...

Many rational people tend not to see countries led by extreme right-wingers as being progressive. There's nothing the slightest bit progressive about Israel's treatment of asylum seekers, for example, though I'm sure there's some who'd try to argue that labelling them 'infiltrators' and introducing harsh legislation to deal with them is a very progressive thing to do...

It ain't Pallwood when it's true.

The IDF have admitted themselves that it wasn't true. Not sure why you'd turn around and try to argue otherwise...

[King_David]

27. The message is true,

Israel and the IDF are a very gay progressive country and military organization .

Their is no getting around that .

[Violet_Crumble]

28. The photo wasn't. You really need to read the OP before posting...

Also, since when has gay marriage been legal in Israel? Not that Israel's stance on gay rights has anything to do with the I/P conflict. Have you considered going and posting all yr stuff over in the LGBT or the Middle East groups?

* Of course we won't see you posting about 'Pallywood' and bringing up stories of faked coffins being filmed etc? After all, according to yr logic, the message would be true, and that message is that the IDF kills Palestinians...

[oberliner]

29. Israel is really bad at PR

This is not the first time this sort of thing has occurred.

Remember this story:

A YouTube video featuring a man who presented himself as an American gay rights activist disillusioned with the latest Gaza flotilla campaign has been exposed as a hoax.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/israeli-video-blog-exposed-as-a-hoax/

[King_David]

30. Yes I post there too

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2012, 03:51 PM - Edit history (1)

•In 1992, the Knesset banned discrimination in the workplace against gay and lesbian people.

•In 1993 -- at the same time the United States was fiercely debating the role of gay people in the military, ultimately initiating the much-flawed "Don't Ask; Don't Tell" policy -- the Israeli Defense Forces abolished all restrictions and requirements that discriminated against gay and lesbian people serving in the military.

•In 1994, the Israeli Supreme Court issued historic decisions that recognized same-sex partner benefits in the private sector and granted equal rights to same-sex couples.

•In 1997, a lower court extended same-sex partner benefits to the public sector, enabling gay and lesbian partners to qualify for state fringe benefits.

•In 2000, the Supreme Court recognized that gay and lesbian couples had full rights of adoption, with both parents sharing full legal custody.

•As of 2012, unfortunately, gay marriages are not conducted in Israel; indeed, there is no concept of civil marriage at all under Israeli law. However, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled in 2006 that gay marriages certified abroad would be fully recognized in Israel; and gay and lesbian civil unions have long been legally recognized for a wide variety of purposes: including property tax benefits, inheritance and housing aid. As the U.S. marriage equality debate intensifies following President Obama's 2012 declaration of support, so does the discussion in Israel, encouraging Israeli gay marriage advocates to be hopeful for positive developments in the coming years.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathanmiller/the-crazy-lie-of-pinkwash_b_1565869.html



Bye bye got work to do.

[King_David]

32. You should direct that to the person who posted the OP in this forum

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2012, 03:54 PM - Edit history (1)

But,A very nasty mix of anti Israel Zealots and mix of homophobic extremists have made it part of the IP conflict .

Ever heard of the ridiculous term "pink washing " ?

Ever heard of a radical group called Queers Against Israeli Apartheid ?

Yep some very nasty people have made this a part of the IP conflict .


( unfortunately )

[King_David]

35. How dare the IDF make gay soldiers

Feel welcome in the military.

It's a terrible thing the IDF has done staging such a benign photo on their official Facebook page in celebration of Tel Aviv pride .

Don't the IDF know that they should be just as bigoted homophobic and unwelcoming of gays as the military is in my country?

[azurnoir]

36. yeah the Christian Zionists in this country must do a lot of cheek turning

but OtOH they are some of Israel's greatest supporters, so they get a pass on their anti-Gay views at least from some.

Now some of us are fine with Israel's laws concerning Gays, however it's when those laws are directly used to justify continued occupation and colonization of Palestine (the West Bank or Judea and Samaria) then there is a problem, not with Israel's laws concerning Gays but the way those laws are being used in a really unrelated subject, but of course those who are inclined to do that will make claims to the contrary things like it must eat away at them ect, if you wish I could give you a couple of examples of that in case you do not understand

[xfundy]

10. So? They didn't have any pics on hand

This is what you do when you're illustrating a story (hat tip to MADem). Do they think that models in ads actually use the product they're advertising? Hell, no. (Though on-camera talent claiming to have used the product have had to try it, or claim to have tried it, at least once.

Shit, did you think the bowls of ice cream you drooled over for so many years were actually ice cream? Until relatively recently, they were made of reconstituted dried mashed potatoes. Or that soup can that looks so perfect— saaaay, why doesn't it look like that just out of the can?

The ice cream would have melted under the lights, and the stylist likely went through 20 cans of soup to find "representative" pieces of each of its components--in other words, stuff that didn't look nauseating.

I've worked with several food companies, the larger of which typically send their own food stylists to shoots, while bullying creatives to use their heavily styled corporate footage to make the noxious crap you buy at a fast food place look edible. But, sometimes, they have to wing it, searching through many hamburger patties, liquid smoke, jars of pickles, heads of lettuce, slicing several onions, delicately placed mustard, ketchup, etc. till it looks nothing like the real thing.

Kind of the way they treat political candidates. Unfortunately.

[King_David]

24. The real story here is : Gay soldier snags himself straight soldier ,

As they say:

10% is not enough , recruit,recruit,recruit !!

[oberliner]

26. Thanks for posting this story

"The photo reflects the IDF’s open minded attitude towards soldiers of all sexual orientations"

Important to get the word out on this. Appreciate that you included that quote in your final paragraph excerpt.

[King_David]

31. +1

[Bradlad]

33. This place gets curiouser and curiouser.

Let's see if I got this right. The IDF public relations office apparently was told to publicize the IDF's open attitude toward gays to coincide with an upcoming event. And so they produced a quick cheap ad for internet exposure that got the message across. And some here are complaining that the guys in the ad were not really gays, so the ad is deceptive?

Deception, it seems to me, would be if they really didn't permit gays in the ranks or if they harassed gays or tried to drive them out - but created an ad that says the opposite. Is there any evidence of this at all? What does the sexual orientation of the guys in the ad have to do with anything?

This mini-forum never ceases to surprise the hell out of me with the ability of some here to come up with the most absurd illogical arguments to defame Israel. I guess if you are committed enough to some bizarre hateful theory it all makes sense somehow.

[Swede]

34. Hate overpowers reason.

nt