Writing a biography of Dana is a rather difficult task as in spite of all what has been published in the press she luckily >was able to at least maintain some of her privacy. A lot has been written about the fact that Dana (Sharon) was born as a boy by the name of Yaron. Most of those publications focussed on her transsexuality in a rather uninformed and sensational fashion. Many of the very well intended home pages show some of her early pictures with little or no further comment, which by consequence serve as an open invitation for many to look at them in utter amazement, but without any real understanding of transsexuality and the fact that there are many, like her, who where born in a body not corresponding to their essential being.

For this reason for a long time I refrained from publishing those pictures on my page. Given however that, in order to arrive at an understanding of who Dana is and the importance her being and openness for so many, this page cannot be complete without it.

So before continuing I would like to invite the reader, who maybe still doesn't have an understanding of transsexuality, to visit the TS section of my homepage. In my view the true importance of Dana's being and her battle cannot be fully appreciated when the focus would solely be placed on her fantastic musical talents, as this would do short on Dana herself as to the transsexual community in general.

My apologies for the somewhat long-winded introduction, but nevertheless I feel that it was appropriate.

Short Biography.

Dana was born 27 years ago in Tel-Aviv under the Name Yaron Cohen the name Yoron she inherited from her uncle who was killed a year earlier in a terrorist attack. Already at very young age her female being was in many way's apparent something which is reflected in one of her very early pictures.

I like this picture as it depicts Yaron with a doll, something which is indicative for the early age in which her transsexuality becomes manifest. For Dana herself it would still take a long time before she herself becomes aware of her true female identity.

At the age of 10 Yaron began to sing and at the age of 14 she had her first appearance in the musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" produced by the Cameri Theater. It was about that time that she met up with Ofer Nissim, who became Dana's personal manager and the person who played the most important role in her career. It was about at the same time that Yaron discovered her sexual identity and adopted the name Dana. During the early nineties she added International to her name. It was during that time that she participated in a drag show version of the pre-eurovision song contest. Ofer Nissim, her manager, wanted Whitney Houston "in concert in Saudi Arabia" singing in Arabic. He recruited Yaron Cohen, and invented the name Dana International. It was than when she sang "Saida Sultana" as a parody on Whitney's song "my name is not Susanne." To some of the readers it may be confusing that I write that she was 14/15 years of age when she discovered her sexual identity. I may seem that it was only than when her transsexuality arose. This however is not what I`m saying, her transsexuality as such was already in existence at the time of her birth. The fact that only at the age of 14 she became fully aware of her female being only means that she became fully aware of her female being. During that period and ever since there those who objected against Dana appearing on stage as a "man" dressed in women's clothing. When she had her operation about four years ago in London, the ultra-orthodox dismissed her and made a big issue out of holding the 99 Eurovision Song Festival in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Her victory in Birmingham however was applauded by the large majority of Israel's population and her song Diva was being played practically non-stop on the radio. A very important of Dana's live and being is her oneness in respect to her Transsexuality and her ongoing efforts to get recognition and respect for both the TS as the gay community. When she was victorious in Birmingham gay communities all over the world took to the streets in appreciation of her battle. In Europe many saw her victory as a statement of support for the Israeli secular community, but unfortunately there where those in Europe complained about Israel's participation using the excuse that the contest should be strictly for European Countries. A very lame excuse for blatant bigotry directed at Dana for being who she is and her battle for recognition for the gay and transsexual community. At any rate whether it is accurate to say that her victory has to be seen as a statement of support for the Israeli secular community is questionable as there is far more to the issue as directly meets the eye. In order to get an understanding of Dana one will have to look at her location within the implicitly stratified Israeli society she represents the "Other" in optima forma. Born within the Mizrahim sub-society in which she is perceived as a sub-category of the gay community. Within common perception her transsexuality is mostly understood as a "strange" form of homo-sexuality, the transvestite (who in common perception wrongly is defined as gay by definition) who went to the extreme by undergoing surgical alteration. Note that in this sense Israeli society is a microcosm reflecting an overall tendency n perception within western society as such. It therefore should be abundantly clear that one get not get away by declaring Israel more or less prone to this form of stratification. Nevertheless given that Dana as a phenomenon largely became manifest within Israel much of what is going to be said here confines to the dynamics within in this particular society. In order to introduce some form of methodology in my attempt to somehow define the undefinable, I say this as it is my strong conviction that nobody can be defined and categorized and has to be perceived as in constant flux. People are basically dynamic and endowed with an inherent freedom of flow visa vi there environment as well as their inner state. Maybe one of the worst misconceptions underlying the traditional approach to intelligence, as it reached its sorrow pinnacle in the fruitless attempts to achieve the objectives of artificial intelligence research, is the assumption that the future state of a biological system can by means of determinism be deduced from a past state space. Any attempt to capture the individual in a rigid set of definitions is both prone to failure and constitutes a blatant injustice to the individual. Being of Mizrahim descent and singing both in Hebrew and Arabic she very much makes a statement which is not always appreciated and understood among the Ashkenazi secular left. Whereas the Mizrahim form the majority of the population their socio-political status is in many one of an under-class, which especially by the "liberal" segments of the Ashkenazi is perceived as traditional and by implication less developed. Something which is symptomatic for Western society in general in its perception of the "others." At a first level analysis of Dana as a phenomenon one has to look at the way she impacts on the Ashkenazi/Mizrahim divide. Dana in many instances challenges the implicit feelings of superiority among the Ashkenazi left in songs such as Nosa'at LePetra. "Traveling to Petra" is a sophisticated political-sexual parody of the heroic nationalist pathos of Arik Levi's canonical song from the fifties, "HaSela Ha'Adom" (The Red Rock).. HaSela Ha'Adom tells of legendary, courageous young Israeli sabra (nonimmigrant) men who cross mountains and desert to arrive at a place from which they could not return alive. The song is based on real efforts by Israeli males to penetrate Petra, Jordan. Dana turns this Askenazi Israeli myth, with its implicit sexual imagery of a heroic masculine penetration of a feminized Orient, into an explicit sexual encounter with a desert that she returns to rather than from. (Note that the above description was taken from an article by Yael Benz). The song in itself is an inversion of the original implicit Ashkenazi penetration into an thereby putting in submission of that what is Mizrahim into a return and thereby reinstatement of. This is not to say that she is promoting one form of Nationalism over another but much more a harmonization of the Ashkenazim and Mizrahim and thereby on an other level the harmonization between male and female. Yes yes again conform the Juri Principle :-) as brought forth in my articles in the TS section of this homepage.

Illustrating the point further I will again have to borrow from Yael Benz excellent article in which it is written:

"... In 1994, Dana was almost selected for Eurovision, for "Layla Tov Eropa" (Good Night Europe). The song invites Europe to "dance with the whole planet," implicitly suggesting a redeployment of global imperialist relations. Asia is on the rise, Africa and America "are dancing coast to coast," Australia shows up "like a desired woman," and all engage in a "prayer for the human spirit." Europe must choose either to join the dance of "the world's rhythm" or go to sleep. The song challenges European notions of a (white) "human spirit" constituted through the dehumanizing the inhabitants of other continents, but can easily be (mis)read as a homage to Europe. Now, with Dana going to Eurovision (note this article was written before the 1998 contest) the same irony is played out again. Israel's participation in the contest flatters a state that wish to be perceived as Western. Framed by such eurocentric aspirations, Dana's presence mixes popular, representative Israeli music with resistance to ordinary nationalist representation..."

On a second level however she forms a sub-category within the Mizrahim segment of Israeli society by her identification with the gay community. So what we are looking t is an "otherness" which extends into a third level, Ashkenazi -> Mizrahim -> the gay community.

As much as her voice tends to invoke a certain uneasiness among the Ashkenazi so it does among the Mizrahim by her identification with the gay community in which she takes an implicitly activist position.

.In the club mix of "Maganuna," sounds of police sirens are followed by Dana's shouting and crowning, as she exclaims in Arabic: "I'm not crazy!" The juxtaposition situates madness in the state's policing institutions.

The context in which the club mix of the song Maganuna is to be understood links back to one of the first times Dana sang Maganuna. The occasion was the 1996 Tel Aviv Gay Pride where she was performing. As the Sabbath was approaching the police showed up and ordered the event to come to an end. Dana's reaction was one in which she kept hold of the microphone and proceeded in singing the first line of the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikva," in a show of implicit criticism of police and city officials highlighting the limited extend in which they could tolerate queers.

The brilliance exhibited by Dana can be found in the in-directness in which she voices her opposition to the rigid structures of society and thereby making it into a mockery. This brilliance is something which cannot be credited to one person in isolation, it never can, Ofer for example plays a magnificent role in this. It are his songs, arrangements, and inspiration which lay at the very foundations of Dana as a phenomenon. The combination of both magnificent talents is that what makes her not only into a marvelous singer/performer but more importantly so into a social force. A force which, in my not so humble, opinion forms the seed for a global wave of liberation.

There is however yet one more level of "otherness" pertaining to her transsexuality, locating her at least partly outside of the gay community. A factor not well understood among many, also within this community. Her role and activism made her most certainly loved and respected but unfortunately there still exists a certain degree of division which largely finds it origin in the progress which has been gained by the gay community. This is not to say that equality already has been achieved, unfortunately not by a far cry. But compared to the not to distant past the gains are nevertheless significant. In a sense there is a tendency towards "normalization" noticeable in respect to homo-sexuality which slowly but surely brings homo-sexuality within mainstream society. This in itself is a very positive development and increases my hope and expectation that one day society will have grow sufficiently all of its member regardless of their racial, ethnic or sexual background. On the shadow side however there is a tendency within the gay community to distance itself from the TS community, largely out of fear losing that what has been gained by associating with that what is perceived the sexual fringe. This tendency is unfortunately not uncommon among groups which were previously marginalized and managed to fight their way out of isolation into at least partial acceptance.

The significance of Dana for the TS community therefor can not be over estimated as she by her engagement in both the hay as the TS community in a very real sense is reestablishing a common front against the sexual bigotry and suppression by the conservative forces in society.

In my description of the album "Free" and her appearance at the 99 Eurovision Song Festival in Jerusalem, I compared Dana's role to the role played by Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement.. Pointing at a strange and hopefully significant coincidence between her victory in Birmingham England and the events which took place in another Birmingham in the US, I expressed the hope and anticipation that it will be Dana who embarks on a march to Washington. In a very real sense, in the Israeli context, she already marched to the walls of Jerusalem where she performed the ancient prayer of Dor Yikra, in the face of millions and millions all over the world.. Like Martin Luther King she brought her message to the capital and by implication right on the doorstep of the establishment. Not as a message of hate or overt resistance but as the expression of a dream. Remember Martin Luther "I have a dream!!" A dream of reconciliation and harmonization among all peoples, regardless of sexual orientation, ethnic background or race.

Speaking for both Janet and myself we were overcome by a strange feeling of eeriness when at the end of the contest Dana fell. I never forget Janet's words "My God what does this mean?" On the one hand there was the marvel of her shining at the walls of Jerusalem while on the other there was a fall. It instilled a fear inside of us as it being indicative for the hard road she will have to go and the fact that the establishment as such can be extremely unforgiving when its foundations are challenged. As I pointed out in earlier articles published in the TS section of this home-page the fears surfacing when mainstream Judeo-Christian societies are confronted with the gender duality inherent to the human specie, are deep rooted and touch the very foundations of the current paradigm. Much has been spoken about the paradigm shift which will occur with the advent of the new millennium, Dana's march to walls of Jerusalem may well be indicative of this, but nevertheless we cannot be overly optimistic in this respect. The old mental house is resilient and old patterns can trigger rather vicious reaction when driven into the defense. Like it was the case for the civil liberties movement in the US, when it was met with an at least temporary rise of the KKK and its despicable ideology, the sexual liberation movement will have to be prepared to face similar counter movements.

Like Martin Luther King became confronted with forces deeply rooted in the establishment, Edgar Hoover for one, it is inescapable that there will be forces which will attempt this voice of liberation. In a sense we feel that this already taking place from within the media, an example being the refusal of MTV to broadcast Dana's music. Let's not forget that the industry as such is owned not by proponents of the new mental house but rather by those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Give the people that what can be easily consumed, provides them with that which reassures them in their convictions and by implication in their preconceptions. The danger exists that her voice will be silenced and taken over by less shocking forms of pseudo-resistance, much like it happened with the anti-war movement in the late sixties and early seventies, when Jane Fonda resounded via radio Hanoi and people like Timothy Leary and the Weatherman were going at the heart of the establishment. Protest became a consumer article devoid of any real zeal and conviction for people who needed the hype of being liberal without giving up the comfortable little womb of personal wealth and security. What happened to memory of Martin Luther King, he became the darling of suburbian society while black families still were banned out of the fear that their influx would work out negative on real estate values.

Speaking for both of us, there is a fear which is amplified by the virtual absence of Offer Nissim from the album Free, whatever much we enjoy Dana's voice there is something very essential missing. It may well be that the album Free constitutes an attempt to lift her into real international fame after which Offer can return in full force restoring the true Dana. We have some hope that this will occur a hope which is fueled by the brilliance exhibited in the in-directness of her earlier protest. An other aspect which should not be underestimated is the difficulty of establishing a platform from which her message can be translated from an Israeli context into an international one. Although the Israeli context in many way's forms a microcosm in which the same dynamics are manifesting as in the international context it nevertheless requires a good deal of readjustment and fine tuning before it really can work.

It is in the context of this that I made a vow to win the Eurovision Internet Homepage for her as a statement of support for her, as a wonderful and gifted person, and all she stands for. I made the promise to when and if this homepage would be chosen the price and all the honor will be hers. Let's use the Net for her, and that what she represents and stands for.