On the occasion of the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem on Thursday, Muslims, Christians and Jews united in their hatred of homosexuals.

It could be the answer to the middle-east conflict. It worked for the Republicans. They convinced impoverished Americans to vote for candidates that promised to slash welfare and cut healthcare funding by playing on their fear of queers.

Islamic militants and the racist Kach sect of Jews might disagree about the right of the Palestinian people to exist, but they would happily join together to throw stones at gays.

What other people do with their genitals is of prime concern to religious fundamentalists worldwide. While the material world grows increasingly unbearable, people turn to morality and scripture.

Orthodox Jews riot and Palestinians go into denial when the question of homosexuality arises.

Most people in the West Bank will tell you that homosexuality does not exist here.

“We don’t have those kind of people in Palestine,” they say.

But some Palestinians are more pragmatic about the issue.

“Why do we spend so much time worrying over these things,” asked my coworker. “When there is so much violence in the world, does it really make sense to focus on what people do in the privacy of their homes when they aren’t harming anyone?”

Good point.