ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN GAY COUPLE REUNITED

In an unprecedented move the Israeli government has granted a Palestinian gay man temporary residence in the country to live with his Israeli partner.

The 33 year old from Jenin in the occupied West Bank, who has not been named, originally applied for residence to Israel’s interior ministry some years ago, but this was declined.

He then recently reapplied claiming that his life was in danger after his family learnt of his sexuality.

He was given the temporary residence by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yossef Mishlav after being questioned by the security forces.

“There’s nothing wrong with me. All I want is to be with my boyfriend,” the man told the Yediot Aharonot newspaper. The man’s partner also reportedly suffers from a heart condition.

“We granted a temporary permit to this Palestinian because his lawyer said his life was in danger in his community because of his sexual tendencies,” said a spokesperson for the Israeli military.

The man will now be allowed to live in Tel Aviv with his partner of eight years, a computer engineer in his forties, pending monthly renewals of the residence and a final ruling by the interior ministry.