No safe place (illustration)
Photo: Getty Image
2 men attacked while kissing on Tel Aviv street
Gay couple spotted ending date on a romantic note nearly falls prey to act of random violence. 'We thought they were going to kill us,' says victim
Dangerous liaisons: Two men who were seen kissing on a central Tel Aviv street were the near-victims of an assault by several local youths, who took aversion to the public display of affection.
Nadav, 29, recounted the terrifying end to his Tuesday night date: "We were kissing and then a car sped by and the passengers began yelling 'homos! We'll kill you!' We ignored it at first, it was – after all – only a yell, but then the car stopped.
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"Luckily for us," he continued, "they weren't smart enough to realize that the door was open and they could get in, so they banged on the door with the maces and nearly broke it."
Several minutes later, the assailants gave up and left, leaving Nadav and his date completely shocked. "It wasn’t until they nearly smashed the door in that I realized that this was really serious. We thought they were going to kill us," he said.
"Living in Tel Aviv, you think you are shielded form these kind of things, but I guess that even in 2009, there is no safe place. I can't understand what would make a person stop his car and come after another person like that."
Nadav has no real recollection of the assailants, nor did he get the car's license plate number, so he is unable to file a police complaint.
Nevertheless, he says he has no intention of letting this experience deter him: "I've done nothing wrong and I will keep action the same, but I will undoubtedly be more careful in the future. I'm done thinking things will stop at screaming."
