Source: Times (London)
For four years it stood as an oasis of tolerance in Jerusalem: a place where drag queens, ultra-Orthodox Jews and Palestinians could hang out, dance and drink pints, side by side.

But Shushan, the city’s only gay and lesbian bar, has closed, leaving its loyal patrons with a deep sense of loss. “Shushan was one of the few places where we could feel that we were in a free world,” said Yan Carmel, 21, a Hebrew University student who is a member of a gay youth coalition.

In this conservative holy city, where a gay pride parade can bring rare unity to angry bearded religious leaders from all faiths, and the sight of men displaying affection in the street draws stares or worse, Shushan provided a haven.

On most nights, Shushan quietly played host to a cross-section of society: gay and straight, men and women, Orthodox and secular Jews and Palestinians.

The bar has fallen victim to a most prosaic issue: economics. “I really came to a point in my life where I want to do something else, and with all due respect to ideology, I need to pay rent,” said the co-owner, Saar Nathaniel, also a Jerusalem city councillor who frequently clashes with more conservative counterparts on matters of gay rights.

Only an hour’s drive away, in Tel Aviv, gay bars, beaches and travel agencies cater for a thriving scene. Israel’s gay rights legislation is seen as progressive: gay couples who marry abroad have the right to register their marriages legally at home.

But Shushan was also the target of violence. It was seriously damaged in an arson attack two years ago, though no one was injured. The result, patrons say, was that its clientele became closer knit. Now they are struggling to find other clubs.