Residents of Berel Katznelson Street in the Neve Shanan neighborhood in Haifa were surprised to discover on Tuesday a pamphlet in their mailboxes with inflammatory statements against the LGBTQ+ community, which included blaming them for the rise of Nazism.
A local couple told Ynet that "when we opened the pamphlet and started reading, we realized what it was about and we reported it to the police. A police officer came to check and saw that it was distributed in other buildings as well."
The pamphlet was nearly 30 pages long, and entitled "Twelve considerations of the religious public regarding the LGBT agenda." It claimed that gay movements and LGBT culture helped the Nazis rise to power. The opening of the booklet states that "one of the most charged and controversial issues in our world today is the battle to grant legitimacy to the LGBT community agenda in a society where they used to be outlawed."
"In recent years, LGBT activity has received legal support, sponsoring, promoting, obtaining legitimacy, advertising and even lobbying on its behalf in the Knesset. Many schools are required to instill LGBT propaganda in children by the activists of the movement. Many began to wonder whether homosexuality is a matter of personal choice, the result of influence, or a sign of a progressive society," the pamphlet said, according to a Ynet report.
Pamphlets are an incitement to murder - The Aguda
The Aguda – Israel's LGBT Task Force filed a complaint on Wednesday on the pamphlet for incitement to murder against the LGBT community.
The booklet states that in order to come to power, Adolf Hitler was helped by a youth movement that "attracted the attention of gay men," and became the basis for the establishment of the Nazi Party. The pamphlet accuses the "activists of the Jewish movement" of acts similar to those of the Nazis. "As seen in Nazi Germany, children were taken from their parents against their will and removed them from family values and tradition in order to undergo propaganda brainwashing," it was claimed in the pamphlet.
The CEO of The Aguda, Ran Shalhabi, said: "This is bloodletting and wild incitement that has crossed all borders. Every day we witness more LGBT-phobic cases and it seems that the spirit of commands that blow from the extremist elements in the current government permeates more than ever.
"This is bloodletting and wild incitement that has crossed all borders. Every day we witness more LGBT-phobic cases and it seems that the spirit of commands that blow from the extremist elements in the current government permeates more than ever."
Ran Shalhabi
"In the face of hatred and LGBT-phobia, we will stand together, we will continue to shine the light of pride and tolerance and we will not allow darkness to take over Israel. I call on the mayor of the city of Haifa, Kalish Rotem, to condemn the shocking hate crime and for the Israel Police to investigate and bring the instigators to justice."
Yoav Itiel/Walla contributed to this report.