Land of Salt

To many people on the British Left, especially voters and activists of the increasingly popular Green Party, the nation of Israel can do nothing right. For some rightwingers and conservative Christians, especially of premillennial eschatology, Israel can do little wrong. On 1st-4th of June this year, Israel is going to host 'Pride Land', with government support. According to the Jerusalem Post, this will be “the Middle East’s largest ever LGBT festival”:

“The new festival, Pride Land, intends to transform the middle of the Judean Desert into a colourful pride city from June 1 to June 4. The event intends to create an experience broader than parties or performances, instead aiming for a space that is alive 24 hours a day, with 15 hotels, beach complexes, parties, and a central performance arena all operating around the clock. Alongside the nightlife, Pride Land will have cultural and art complexes, relaxation and scenic areas, and family-friendly areas with children's activities, family-friendly workshops, and customized events. The organizers hope to create a multigenerational “Pride City,” not just a party celebrating pride. “This is not just another festival, it's the biggest thing we've done here,” explained Aaron Cohen, main producer and initiator of the festival”.

Ironically, this will do little to assuage the socially liberal Greens’ hatred of Israel and its people, nor the Christian Right’s automatic defence of all things emanating from Tel Aviv. In one respect, Israel cannot win whatever it does, so perhaps it should just ignore the rest of the world. Yet this particular event is even darker than we Bible believers anticipate. Where it is due to be held? What the Jerusalem Post calls the Judean Desert is what we would call the environs of the Dead Sea. Although its organisers might not believe it, there was once another Pride City located in this area. It, too, was a place of around-the-clock parties, cultural complexes, relaxation and activities for children. They also thought they were something ‘big’, a wonderful expression of human identity and defiance of divine order and morality. I refer, of course, to Sodom, which once stood close to this summer’s Pride Land. Those who know the book of Genesis will perceive that it ended badly; the land of promise was not to be sullied by lascivious orgies and sexual excess and found itself subjected to a mini–Judgement Day all of its own. Israel, take note.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Deuteronomy 32:32

A  D