Mikeuk

Presumably these places are knocking-shops for poofters so the information is useful. Give them a wide berth.

I knew a couple of girls who visited New York and ended up unwittingly booked into some some dump which I suppose could be described as a gay-friendly flophouse. They were kept awake most of the night by squealing, screaming, incredibly loud emissions of flatulence, creaking beds, buzzing vibrators and, to cap it all, loud whiplash sounds, all reverberating through the paper-thin walls.

These classifications serve their purpose. Come the revolution such establishments will be first in line for a visit from a new type of 'Hotel Inspector'

Aardvark

rjt, The hotels at Ein Gedi, just up the Dead Sea are all kosher, have synagogues and you can't get a bacon butty for love nor money. They are unlikely to be 'gay friendly' as they cater to the 'settler' trade - 'it' is forbidden in Leviticus and that's the way the settlers prefer it. Masada is a stone's throw away (if you're at the top throwing stones down). It's interesting from a Christian point of view and definitely beats MK.

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When in Woking do as the Wokes do.

"I do not wish to form my opinions by thoughtlessly quoting others; I wish others to support their opinions by sensibly quoting me." Paul Wesson (Aardvark) 13th April 2008

Smidgey

I thought most of the Jews in Israel were secular Jews?

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How vain is man, who boasts in fight the valour of gigantic might!

-Georg Friedrich Händel

Aardvark

It's always difficult to quantify numbers in a country where people cheat at demographics all the time. A person with one Jewish grandparent now qualifies to enter Israel. The Russians lost the bulk of their genealogical records from their western provinces so lots of Russians are claiming to be Jewish, but some got caught out forming an anti-Semitic neo-Nazi organisation in Israel (you couldn't make it up).

The question therefore is who is Jewish? A lot of the Russians are poor and are in Israel only to get citizenship as a staging post to the US citizenship they crave. They don't do the hotel and history circuit, other than as staff.

The settlers are backed by incredible wealth from Christian fundamentalists - something about getting all the Jews back into Israel to bring on the 'rapture'. Settlers are mainly Orthodox (not to be confused with the proseletysing and fast-breeding ultra-Orthodox who aim to be a majority of Jews in Israel). They live in fortified settlements on 'stolen' land and take holidays in safe areas to get away from the troubles that they have brought about by their own interpretation of the Old Testament. Hotels in Israel are built with synagogues as a matter of course (there was one in the Butlitz style place I stayed in Eilat).

The Jews are frightened that the Arabs will outbreed them west of the Jordan and are dishing out Jewishness to all and sundry. If you convert to Judaism (properly by going to the synagogue, studying the books and having the operation) you will be allowed to claim Israeli citizenship under the right of return. Anybody with a bit of nous and a willingness to live in a nearly bankrupt fictional country can get Israeli citizenship. You do have to learn modern Hebrew and serve in what is a poorly trained, but well equipped army. You only get 3 months to learn Hebrew before you go into the Army and recently troops with 2 weeks basic training were being sent to the 'territories'. The Arabs, many of whom speak very good Hebrew, take the p|ss at checkpoints as the Russian speaking conscripts have no idea what they are on about - it's a token act of defiance.

The secular Jews are likely to be squeezed as Arabs are breeding faster and so are the ultra-Orthodox who have 8-10 kids per family. Ultra-Orthodoxy is winning converts because for 'religious' reasons they don't serve in the Army if they can avoid it (ultra-O units have been formed so that their religious sensibilities aren't offended). If you are ultra and male you can spend your entire life in the Yeshivah studying the Torah and debating it. You get money from Jewish foundations in the US and the US bankrolls the country so nobody has to work really (apart from the Arabs and Sephardim). Ultras also take days off religion - I sat in a bar in West Jerusalem where an ultra was rolling a fag, drinking Guinness and hanging around for a call girl (read up on ultra-O sexual behaviour and you'll understand why Tel Aviv has 8000 prostitutes from Asia and eastern Europe).

Still better than Milton Keynes.

__________________
When in Woking do as the Wokes do.

"I do not wish to form my opinions by thoughtlessly quoting others; I wish others to support their opinions by sensibly quoting me." Paul Wesson (Aardvark) 13th April 2008

Bluemerle

I remember a friend telling us that on route to somewhere on the Continent, the plane had touched down at a remote resort because of problems, and she was put into a hotel bedroom with 3 beds and was asked if she minded sharing with these other two girls. She woke in the night to hear grunts and squeals and realised the other two were in one bed and hard at it. She couldn't sleep for the noise and was so embarrassed she fled before dawn and sat up in the Lounge. The others seemed not to care and were certainly not embarrassed.

Popeye

I'd have lived with it!