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Israeli city to host drag queen ‘story hour’ for preschoolers

Central Israeli city planning to hold “story hour” event for children ages 3-5,  featuring a drag queen who previously mocked traditional Jewish religious items.

By World Israel News Staff

A city in central Israel will be hosting a public event for young children, featuring a drag queen, Israel National News – Arutz Sheva reported Tuesday.

The event will be hosted by the city of Givatayim, just east of Tel Aviv.

Dubbed “Story Hour With Tequila Coaster,” the event is aimed at children ages three to six, and is slated to feature drag queen Tequila Coaster.

The event is scheduled for next Tuesday, in honor of international Family Day.

Last June, Coaster drew criticism over a performance at a Haoman 17 nightclub in which the performer appeared to dress up as a Hasidic Jewish man and wore mock religious items – including a fake tallit and tefillin [phylacteries].

The Betsalmo organization filed a formal protest with Attorney General Gali Beharav-Miara over the performance, calling for a criminal investigation into whether Coaster’s show violated a ban against offending religious sensibilities.

“The Penal Code (section 173:13) establishes that a person who is found to have injured religious sensibilities can be sentenced to a year in prison,” Betsalmo attorney Michael Litvak wrote in his letter to Beharav-Miara.

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“And there is no doubt that this performance, which reached thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of Jews, caused serious injury to the religious sentiments of Jews in the State of Israel … This law should not be applied solely when it concerns Muslim religious sensibilities.”

“Throughout the generations, Jews have given up their lives for tallit and tefillin and now, to our distress, they are forced to see these holy items denigrated in some nightclub.”

The municipality of Givatayim responded to criticism of the upcoming event, defending it on the grounds that it promotes “the importance of the family.”

“The activities concerned are based on one of our classic children’s stories, a book by Dan Pagis called The Egg that Disguised Itself, in search of a new identity,” the city said in a statement.

“Story hour is being presented within the framework of ‘family day’ by a drag artist in disguise, just like the egg in the story disguises itself. The discussion will revolve around loving others, the importance of the family, and the confidence that family and friends provide to children and adults alike.”