#pinkwashing (bis) queersagainstapartheid.org/faq/#03 ISN’T ISRAEL THE BEST PLACE FOR QUEERS? Israel’s latest PR campaign involves promoting itself as an oasis of liberal tolerance, specifically in relation to gay rights, in a “sea of backwardness”. The constant refrain is that gays have no rights in Palestine or elsewhere in the Mideast. While it is true that Israel has repealed some explicitly homophobic laws, it is still an intensely homophobic country with resistance to gay rights in many quarters of Israeli state and society. Moreover, liberal rights granted to some can never serve as a justification for denying rights to others. Israel’s queer rights are not extended to Palestinians in the occupied territories it controls; and Israel does nothing to support the struggles of Palestinian queers or queers elsewhere in the Mideast. It only uses their experience to promote hatred of all Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims, including queer Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. Queer struggles against homophobia in Palestine will never flourish as long as Palestinians live under the intolerable conditions of occupation, violence, and Israeli state terror that disrupt and regulate their daily existence. Supporting queer rights in Palestine means fighting the apartheid system that denies self-determination to all Palestinians. We stand in solidarity with queers in Palestine, and support their struggles of resistance to homophobia and Israeli apartheid.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:21:09 +0000