Israeli gay club promoter criticised for mock Islamic State execution poster
A popular gay events promoter in Israel has been strongly criticised for using images appearing to mimic recent Islamic State beheading videos.
The events promoter Drek (דרעק), owned by Imri Kalman holds club nights across Tel Aviv. Kalman owns other gay events, and the bar Shpagat which has been named the most popular gay bar in Tel Aviv by Time Out.
The poster was released to promote an club night on Friday, and included an image of a man kneeling in the sand wearing orange, with another man, wearing black, and features the flag of ISIS in the top left hand corner.
It has been criticised for mimicking the videos released by ISIS which appeared to show James Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines, being beheaded.
The event was held at Tel Aviv’s Haoman 17 club called “Drekistan at the Haoman”.
Ynet News reports that an accompanying description read: “As the new Islamic State gains traction in the Middle East, we at Drek have decided to give in to Sharia law and cheer the stubborn Da’esh [ISIS].”
Others have noted that the Hebrew word for stubborn translates as “hard-necked”, and that it was an apparent reference to the beheadings.
The image was deleted after Facebook followers criticised it, some calling the image “disgusting”.
