Iranian Poet in Israel; 'I am Gay, and Iranian...'

Payam Fili, a young Iranian gay poet, has been granted entry to Israel in a rare move by the Israeli government. He will hold a poetry reading in Tel Aviv and participate in a performance titled 'Three Reasons' based on his works. The travel permit for this Iranian poet was issued by Silvan Shalom, the Israeli Minister of Interior. According to Israeli media, Ms. Miri Regev, the Minister of Culture and a member of the ruling Likud party, supported the travel permit for Mr. Payam Fili in a letter to her party colleague, Silvan Shalom. Some of Payam Fili's works were translated into Hebrew earlier this summer; a novel titled 'I Turn Green; I Bear Fruit; Fig' is now available to Hebrew-speaking readers. This novel begins with the phrase 'I am twenty-one, I am gay,' which led Haaretz to publish its report about him under the title: 'I am gay and Iranian.' Granting entry to Israel for a non-Jewish Iranian is unusual, especially given that Iran and Israel are considered adversarial states. In an interview with Channel 10 of Israeli television, he stated that gay individuals in Iran are at risk in every way. Payam Fili claims to be part of a segment of Iranians who believe that the Iranian government's hostility towards Israel is unacceptable and that he has always had sympathy for Israel and its people. Fili was seen in the interview with Channel 10 apparently sporting a Star of David tattoo on his neck; he mentioned that he finds its geometric design interesting and is aware that it symbolizes Israel and the Jewish people. Fili told Channel 10 that the younger generation in Iran lacks basic freedoms and security, and the protests of 2009, which were the first opportunity for the younger generation to express dissent against the policies dictated by the leaders of the Islamic Republic, were violently suppressed. 'The White Plain System' is another of Payam Fili's audio poetry books in which he states: 'Perhaps my existence in Iran has caused so much 'death by gallows' to flow into my text; to the point that it seems like morning and you are hanging in a square... the end of a chaotic and fragmented life that seems to have been carried away by the wind at dawn...' After leaving Iran, he went to Turkey and told the Associated Press that his family lives in Karaj, but he wishes to settle in Israel.