יהוד-מונסון: אלמונים השחיתו את שלט ה"לב" שנצבע בצבעי דגל הגאווה לרגל חודש הגאווה וריססו עליו "מוות להומואים". @N12News pic.twitter.com/idKvm5B6py
— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) June 16, 2021
The incident came the night before a Pride event for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, which is set to take place at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Oklahoma Park. The event will include a soap bubble show, sock puppet making, a children's play, face paint and coloring.
Additional Pride events are set for June 22, July 4 and July 21 in Yehud-Monosson. More information is available on the municipality's Facebook page.
Residents who wish to hang up a Pride flag can receive a flag from the social services department of the municipality, located on the fifth floor at 14 Shabazi Street.
"I strongly condemn any violent and hurtful activity of any kind," said Yehud-Monosson Mayor Yaela Machlis on Facebook in response to the incident. "The Yehud-Monosson community has been committed to tolerance for many years, and on the occasion of Pride Month, we launched a 'Equality is the whole story' campaign."
Machlis stressed that the vandals were extremists who "do not reflect the community of the city."
Yehud-Monosson placed 10th on the Agudah-The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel's Pride Index for the support and counseling the municipality provides for adapting spaces for parents and adolescents on the trans spectrum, as well as support for counselors and welfare workers."In the last month we have seen and seen an increase in cases of LGBTQ+-phobia," said Ran Shalhavi, director-general of the Agudah - The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel. "We will not give up the right to be who we are and we will continue with great pride to bring pride to the whole country in over 50 pride events to be held throughout the country. It is good that the Yehud-Monosson Municipality is handling the case responsibly and works for the security of the LGBTQ+ community in the city."
Last week, a Pride flag that was placed on the Yehud-Monosson municipality building was removed by vandals. Two Pride flags were subsequently put up by the municipality in response to the incident.
Additionally last week, signs promoting a Pride March in Netanya were vandalized, with the vandals publishing a video in which they said "there won't be a pride march here, their memory will be erased."Dozens of Pride events are planned to take place across Israel during June and July. More information on events can be found on the website of the Agudah and on the social media accounts of municipalities and local LGBT organizations.
LGBT-phobic cases were reported once every three hours in 2020 in Israel, as 2,696 new incidents of hate and violence against the LGBT community were reported amid the coronavirus outbreak, a 27% increase compared to 2019, according to an annual report by the Nir Katz Center of the Agudah.
The report stated that it is likely that as awareness of the LGBT community has grown over the years, so has opposition to their presence in different geographical areas, leading to a steady increase in LGBTphobia.