Let's just say that Islam officially condemns homosexuality as a serious sin. Does Islam says gays have to be executed? Not that I know of from what I know. However, depending on the countries in question, some are more strict than others such as Saudi Arabia which adhere to a very strict code and you can be beheaded for being caught 'behaving in such abnormal way' in their words, not mine.

My knowledge about Palestinians is based on the huge population of Arabs in Montreal that I encounter almost daily. But I doubt even them would be representative of what's really like in Palestine. So here is what I know:

The life of an openly or outed gay male would probably be very miserable. But is death a certain consequence, probably not. But there are things that can be more fearful than deaths in the Arab society. The Arab world in general is very collectivist, even more so than the Far Eastern cultures. So if you have done something wrong according to them, you can be pretty sure everyone else knows it as well. This may mean rejection by your family, heartbreaking your closest relatives and insults from your friends.

I am not certain how the case we are discussing in this topic evolved to this point but what's very common though is that gay men among Arabs usually never admit that they are gays. In some way, it's similar to how a lot of gay Black males behave - they have sexual relationships with males and females but don't consider themselves to be gay. Personally, I can't comprehend that but let's just say to get a muslim arab to admit he is gay is about as possible as asking him to suicide on the spot. So how did the 'victime' in our story got to this point puzzles me. I won't be surprised if there are other motives behind coming out and he might not be gay after all.

In some Middle East countries such as Lebaon and to certain extent, Egypt, homosexuality is technically allowed. Turkey, a Muslim country with a 'big twist', is totally liberal about it. Isarel, I was told they were close to consider equal rights to gays and lesbians so things can't be too bad there. UAE, highly modern country which officially bans homosexuality like Singapore but as long as it's not public, chances are they won't reinforce it. This is confirmed by a young girl I know from UAE living in Montreal. She is a very beautiful woman although she never said it, I am pretty sure she is Lesbian. Everywhere else in the Middle East, if you want to keep your head where they are, be very careful.