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What’s it like to be a gay Lebanese Christian — and proudly Zionist?

In this powerful episode of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt: 30 Minute Mensches, Jonah sits down with international Jonathan Elkhoury, a proud Israeli citizen who is challenging false media narratives and misconceptions about Israel one campus conversation at a time. Born in Lebanon to a father who fought alongside the IDF during Israel’s 1982 intervention in the Lebanese civil war, Jonathan fled Hezbollah rule and found refuge in Israel at age 9. He shares the harrowing story of his family’s escape, his emotional reunion with his father, and how Israel not only gave him safety, but also the freedom to live openly as a gay man — the only Middle Eastern country where that’s possible.

Jonathan also speaks out about:

• 🏳️‍🌈 Israel’s track record on LGBTQ rights — and the lie of “pinkwashing”
• 🎓 How he confronts anti-Israel misinformation on college campuses — even after being spat on, kicked, and targeted for his views
• 🧱 How he combats "Israeli Apartheid Week" with the truth of his lived experiences
• 👤 What it means to be a “minority within a minority within a minority” — and why he still stands with Israel
• 📺 Why mainstream media — including the BBC — continues to fail on the Middle East
• 🔥 The real reasons Israel went into Lebanon in 1982 — and the Palestinian terrorism that sparked a civil war

Jonathan’s story is a living example of intersectionality — and how true human rights work means defending people, not slogans. He is the voice anti-Israel activists try to silence. Don’t miss hearing him on this week’s can’t miss episode.

Host & Production Team

Host: Jonah Platt; Produced by Rainbow Creative (Executive Producer: Matthew Jones; Story Producer: Sasha Nelson; Content Director: Alexandra Fugère; Associate Producer: Emma Webb); Editor: Rainbow Creative Team; Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild; Graphic Designer: Noah Bell

Follow Jonathan on:

IG: @jon_elk

X: @Jonathan_Elk

MENTIONED IN EPISODE:

• Jonah & Jonathan’s trip with Sharaka for March of the Living
• Jonathan Elkhoury on Defying Stereotypes
• Backgrounder on the 1982 Lebanon War
• Lebanese Civil War
• Anti-Israel “Apartheid Week”
• Israel’s withdrawal from Southern Lebanon (2000)
• Israel’s LGBT Rights Timeline
• How Immigrants Boosted LGBTQ Rights in Israel
• Lebanese Christians under the French Mandate
• Timeline: The Rise, Spread, and Fall of ISIS
• Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum
• Israel’s Population Diversity
• Israel defends Druze in Syria
• Hassan Nasrallah Killed in Israeli Airstrike
• Jonathan’s Post 10/7 Tweet