IMAGINING INDEPENDENCE PARK by Oren Segal A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Near Eastern Studies) In the University of Michigan 2012 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Shachar M Pinsker, Chair Professor David M. Halperin Associate Professor Carol Bardenstein Assistant Professor Maya Barzilai “Doing it in the park, Doing it after Dark, oh, yeah” The Blackbyrds, “Rock Creek Park,” City Life (Fantasy Records, 1975) © Oren Segal All rights reserved 2012 In memory of Nir Katz and Liz Troubishi ii Acknowledgements Most of all, I would like to thank my committee members: Shachar Pinsker, David Halperin, Carol Bardenstein, and Maya Barzilai. They are more than teachers to me, but mentors whose kindness and wisdom will guide me wherever I go. I feel fortunate to have them in my life. I would also like to thank other professors, members of the Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, who were and are part of my academic and personal live: Anita Norich, Deborah Dash Moore, Julian Levinson, Mikhail Krutikov, and Ruth Tsoffar. I also wish to thank my friends and graduate student colleagues who took part in the Frankel Center’s Reading Group: David Schlitt, Ronit Stahl, Nicholas Block, Daniel Mintz, Jessica Evans, Sonia Isard, Katie Rosenblatt, and especially Benjamin Pollack. I am grateful for funding received from the Frankel Center throughout my six years in Ann Arbor; without the center’s support, this study would have not been possible. I would also like to thank the center’s staff for their help. Many thanks to the members of the Hebrew Reading Group, who read and commented on almost every page of earlier drafts of my dissertation: Orian Zakai, Alexandra Hoffman, Sara Feldman, and Efrat Bloom. I also appreciate the dialogue I have had with the Hebrew language instructors: Ilan Rosenberg, Levana Aronson, and especially Doron Lamm. In addition, I would like to thank close friends for their support and long fruitful conversations: Jarrod Hayes, Tim Friese Agnew, Issac Oliver, Amr Kamal, Rostom Mesli, Ido Admon, Maayan Eitan, Ofer Dynes, Arnaud Réfrégier, and Corina Kesler. Many thanks for the Department of Near Eastern Studies, its professors and staff. I am also grateful for funding and fellowships received from Rackham Graduate School iii at the University of Michigan. I am truly grateful for all the people who believed and supported this project. Many people, who are not part of the Ann Arbor community, helped me with this project: the staff of the Aguda (The Israeli LGBT association), the staff of Tel-Aviv Public Library, the staff of Tel-Aviv Museum of Modern Art, the staff of Tel-Aviv Municipal Archive, and the staff of The National Library of Israel. Many thanks to the anonymous cruisers of Independence Park, the LGBTQ activists, the writers and artists, who were in dialogue with me during the research and writing of this study: I mention each and every one of you in the footnotes. I also wish to thank the artists for allowing me to use their images here. iv Table of Contents Dedication……………………………………………………………………………...….ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………..…..…iii List of Figures……………………………………………………………..………..……vii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 From Zionist Site of Memory to Queer Counterpublics Chapter One……………………………………………………………...………………49 To Transcend AIDS in a Holy Land: Yotam Reuveny's Night Diary Chapter Two…..……………………………………………………….……….………...74 Tel-Aviv's Wailing Walls and White Cubes: Nader and Shmueli’s Installation Art Chapter Three……………...…………………………………….……………..……….115 In Their Own Image: Photography and Independence Park v Chapter Four………………………………………………………….………..…….....166 Looking for a Homoland: Between Sodom and Germany Chapter Five……………………………………….........................................................210 Haunted by Memory: Gay Cruising in a Muslim Cemetery Afterword…...…………………………………………………………………………..257 The American Forefather of Israeli Cruising Bibliography……………………………………………………………......……….….265 vi List of Figures Figure Title page 1………….….Sarit Rosen’s installation……………………………………………….…2 2……………..1953 booklet……………………………………………………………...12 3……………..Hugo Mendelssohn’s Altalena…………………………...………………14 4……………..1965 cigarettes advertisement…………………………...……………….18 5……………..Tammuz and Elhanani’s statue………..…………………………………19 6……………..Cascella’s statue……………………………………………………….…19 7……………..Feigin’s statue……………………………………………………………19 8……………..Cover of Hazman AhVarod……………………………………………...28 9……………..Natan Dvir’s refugee sleepling……………………..……………………33 10………..…..Gil Nader’s installation (detail )…………………………………………78 11……………Gil Nader’s installation (detail 2)…...…………………………………...78 12……………Gil Nader’s Installation (detail 3)………………………………………..79 13……………Gil Nader’s Installation (detail 4)……………………………………..…79 14……………Yoav Shmueli’s Installation (detail 1 from Innocence)………………….86 15……………Yoav Shmueli’s Installation (detail 2 from Innocence)………………….86 16……………Yoav Shmueli’s Installation (detail 3 from Innocence)………………….86 17……………Yoav Shmueli’s Installation (detail 1 from Before Innocence)………….91 18……………Yoav Shmueli’s Installation (detail 2 from Before Innocence)………….91 19……………Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain…………………………………………….96 vii 20……………Robert Gober’s Three Urinals………………...........................................96 21……………Robert Gober’s Untitled Candle…………………………………………99 22……………Yoav Shmueli’s wall (detail 1)………………………………………..101 23……………Yoav Shmueli’s wall (detail 2)………………………………………..101 24……………Dana and Boaz Zonshine’s untitled…………………………………….102 25……………Yoav Shmueli’s bed (detail 1)………………………………………….104 26……………Yoav Shmueli’s bed (detail 2)…………………………...……………..104 27……………Robert Rauschenberg’s Bed…………………………………………….104 28……………AIDS ad………………………………………………………………...104 29……………Hanna Sahar’s The Princess’ Bingo (detail 1)………………………….119 30……………Hanna Sahar’s The Princess’ Bingo (detail 2)………………………….119 31……………Kohei Yoshiyuki's The Park (detail 1)…………………………………120 32……………Kohei Yoshiyuki's The Park (detail 2)…………………………………120 33……………Kohei Yoshiyuki's The Park (detail 3)…………………………………120 34……………Peter Hujar's cruiser 1…………………………………………………..121 35……………Peter Hujar's cruiser 2…………………………………………………..121 36……………Peter Hujar's cruiser 3…………………………………………………..121 37……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 1…………………………………………………..124 38……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 2…………………………………………………..124 39……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 3…………………………………………………..124 40……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 4…………………………………………………..126 41……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 5…………………………………………………..127 42……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 6…………………………………………………..132 43……………Wilhelm Von Gloeden's “boy holding a reed cane”……………………134 44……………Michelangelo's Dying Slave…………………………………………….134 viii 45……………Robert Mapplethorpe's The Slave………………………………………134 46……………Mordechai Geldman (detail 1)….............................................................136 47……………Mordechai Geldman (detail 2).................................................................136 48……………Mordechai Geldman (detail 3).................................................................136 49……………Shai Ignatz’s cruiser 7..............................................................................138 50……………Caravaggio's Bacchus..............................................................................138 51……………Caravaggio's Bacchus (detail)..................................................................138 52……………Yoav Shmueli's gecko……………...………………...............................139 53……………Praxiteles’ Apollo Sauroctonos...............................................................139 54……………Praxiteles’ Apollo Sauroctonos (detail)...................................................139 55……………Caravaggio's Boy Bitten by a Lizard........................................................140 56……………Uri Gershuni's cruiser 1.........................................................................141 57……………Pierre et Gilles' Le Footballeur Blessé…………………………………141 58……………Uri Gershuni's cruiser 2………………………………………………..142 59……………Arthur Tress’ disabled man…………………………………………….145 60……………George Dureau's disabled man…………………………………………145 61……………Kristian Kožul’s Installation art………………………………………..145 62……………Antinous, Hadrian's lover………………………………………………145 63……………Maya Cohen Levy’s “trash-tank”………………………………………149 64……………1948 Armored car………………………………………………………149 65……………Maya Cohen Levy’s “thorns”…………………………………………..150 66……………Karin Magen’s Tel-Aviv’s Backyard (detail)…………………………...152 67……………Sinai Calif-Israeli’s cruiser 1…………………………………………...154 68……………Sinai Calif-Israeli’s cruiser 2…………………………………………...154 69……………Sinai Calif-Israeli’s cruiser 3…………………………………………...154 ix 70……………Leni Riefenstahl’s Zariba 1…………………………………………….155 71……………Leni Riefenstahl’s Zariba 2…………………………………………….155 72……………Sinai Calif-Israeli’s “self-portrait”……………………………………...157 73……………Honi HaMagel’s From Auschwitz to Hiroshima (details)……………...158 74……………Herzl’s spoof……………………………………………………………220 75……………Abdel Nabi Muslim Cemetery………………………………………….222 76……………Black Laundry’s collage poster………………………………………...226 77……………Pietro Cascella’s Arco Della Pace……………………………………...228 x Introduction From Zionist Site of Memory to Queer Counterpublics Sites of Collective Memories Following the Second Intifada, Sarit Rosen introduced an art installation, titled Holy-Land, which intertwined competing national narratives; on the one hand, the Jewish-Israeli narrative of belonging to the land of Israel, and on the other hand, the Palestinian narrative of ownership of the same piece of