Left a show and was attacked at the Tel Aviv port: "They didn't just want to beat me - they wanted to kill me"
Idan, a Tel Aviv resident, left a performance by Lihi Toledano at the Barbi club in the Tel Aviv port and was brutally attacked in a homophobic incident. According to him, five men beat him with a helmet and kicks, and one tried to stab him with a broken bottle. His girlfriend saved him by shouting and filming. He describes an evening that turned from a fight for his life into heartbreak over the loss of his sense of security.
Idan, a Tel Aviv resident, left a performance by Lihi Toledano at the Barbi club in the Tel Aviv port yesterday (Tuesday) with his girlfriend Arel. According to him, a man began commenting on his appearance and hurling homophobic slurs at him. When he responded, the attack began: the assailant hit him with a helmet, and then about five more men joined in, kicking him. One of the attackers broke a glass bottle and tried to stab him. His girlfriend Arel shouted and started filming, which scared off the attackers, along with police sirens heard approaching. Idan described the attack as an attempted murder: "They didn't just want to beat me. They wanted to kill me. They actually said that while kicking me." In a post he published, he spoke about the illusion that shattered — that physical strength would protect him from blind hatred. He ended with pain over the loss of his sense of security in his home in Jaffa, a place he chose out of a belief in coexistence.