Tel Aviv S&M Subculture Torn Over Gag Orders

“… but on the other hand, right where my watch would be, I’ve got these welts from the handcuffs…”

Tel Aviv, December 20 – Members of this Mediterranean city’s sexual sadomasochism scene say they are of two minds about court-imposed gag orders in various recent cases, a community representative said today.

The membership of the Society for the Advancement of Forms of Entertainment Wusses Oddly Regard as Deviant (SAFEWORD), an informal group dedicated to bringing BDSM enthusiasts together, failed to agree on a proposed statement relating to recent criminal investigations and the Tel Aviv District Court’s imposition of gag orders on information in those cases, owing to what members called SAFEWORD’s bifurcated attitude toward the phenomenon.

Attendees told PreOccupied Territory that neither of two opposing resolution proposals were able to garner a majority of votes. “There are two clashing sets of values in play here,” explained a blindfolded member of the organization who requested anonymity. “On one hand, we’re by nature an open-minded, liberal, pro-democracy bunch, so the notion of a gag order is anathema to those. But on the other hand, right where my watch would be, I’ve got these welts from the handcuffs that – I mean, on the other hand, it’s right up our alley, so to speak. I mean, gags? It’s a no-brainer. So yeah, we’re torn. Painfully…gloriously…intensely…torn” The man, now breathing heavily, excused himself, led on a leash by his partner.

Several such gag orders have been handed down in recent weeks. One involved a “prominent supermodel” involved in a tax evasion case, who turned out to be Bar Refaeli. Earlier, authorities were forced to use vague language in announcing an investigative breakthrough in a “big Jewish terrorism case” that it took very little guesswork to conclude involved the arson that killed several members of the Dawabshe family in the village of Duma this past July. A sexual scandal among top officers in the Israel Police added a martial flavor that appealed to SAFEWORD, especially when the court imposed a gag order on the identities of the senior commanders involved.

However, the titillating aspect of gags conflicted with the membership’s ethos advocating the unrestrained right to be restrained, said organization spokeswoman Hennek Choker. “We get a thrill when the court strikes anything, I mean strikes down anything, obviously, but that clashes with right to know things. Freedom of the pressure point – I keep doing that, sorry not sorry you know you like it – is a fundamental principle of democracy, and it’s unfortunate that the court deems it necessary to keep a stranglehold on… wait, what were we talking about? Is it hot in here, or just me?”

Legal analysts likened the episode to one last year in which ambiguous terminology confused a political movement.