I’ve always feared that this day would come, when I found myself dragged as evidence into an argument against freedom. But it did. A while back, I received a request from a reporter at CNN who was preparing an article on gays and the Arab Spring. I had been told to be leery as it would likely be bad but I went ahead. It’s out now:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/27/gay.rights.arab.spring/
Thankfully, I don’t regret what I myself am quoted as saying. But the others … well, they provide the sort of pinkwashing that the enemies of Arab freedom have come to rely on increasingly in recent years. We’ve gotten used to being used rhetorically by the advocates of war, occupation, dispossession, and apartheid as ‘evidence’ that the primitive sand-people don’t deserve anything other than killing by the enlightened children of the West; we’ve seen this story used to advocate murder of Afghan villagers, Palestinian refugees, Iraqis and so on. It’s given as justification for genocide by the ranting bleach-blond buffoon in the Dutch parliament and as reason for reviving the worst of the Third Reich by neo-fascists across Europe and America. Now, it’s being used as an argument against democracy.
Those evil primitive Moozlims and Ayrabs, see, unlike the brilliant stars of tolerance who want to indiscriminately bomb any worshipper of Allah, are ho-mo-phobes … ‘cause there aren’t San Francisco style Gay Rights parades in Teheran or Damascus … and since religious conservatives here preach against same sex marriage (and of course no one opposes that in Antrim or Alabama save for Moozlims!), the whole religion be damned, nuke’em, gas’em, it don’t matter ….
Or so one would gather from some of the rhetoric. Reality, of course, is different. Having lived in both worlds, I can tell you this in all honesty; I have never once encountered any problem here on account of my sexuality that I would not have encountered were I straight as an arrow. I have never once been attacked or beaten or even screamed at for being a lesbian in an Arab land. On the other hand, I have had dung thrown at me in America for wearing a hijab, been attacked and struck by strangers for being an Arab …
So why pinkwashing? Others have brilliantly dissected the way this rhetoric has been used to turn gay rights into a weapon of imperialism, specifically in Palestine. (For those interested, read here http://www.pinkwatchingisrael.com/ or http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2011/02/16/queer-palestinian-activists-discuss-pinkwashing-and-more There’s a lot of great work being done on this). Liberals in the West are told not to criticize imperial wars or apartheid on account of those who are suffering ain’t as gay friendly as those who do the oppressing ….
Which of course is crazy. And like any tool of oppression needs to be opposed.
And now, the rhetoric is that democracy is BAD; earlier this year, John McCain proclaimed democracy a virus that needed to be stopped, because, of course, it would be terrible if Those People ever started determining their own futures. Now, we see it being disseminated in a liberal lavender guise: the wicked evil Muslim Brotherhood and the wicked evil sheikhs of al-Islam will get elected if the people are allowed to decide! Oh my! And then … well, there won’t be any freedom for party boys in Cairo to go cruising ….
Of course, such politics show a fundamental hatred of democracy, at least when it comes to US. (As a friend once aptly put it, ‘we don’t hate you for your freedom, we hate you because you hate our freedom’). The Arabs might decide how they want to live for themselves, they might stop living on their knees … and anything, anything at all to avoid that!
These pinkwashers loved Assad just as they loved Mubarak. They didn’t love them for what they did for LGBT Egyptians or Syrians but rather for the aid they gave to states bent on apartheid and imperialism; they know that, once the government that lost the Jaulan is gone, a democratic Syria won’t look kindly at the theft of Syrian land. They know that a more democratic Egypt already means the end of their siege of Gaza.
They want to pretend that us homos and queers will all come to forget that we have fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and so on. We’ll forget that we have been oppressed not solely or even primarily as faggots and dykes but, instead, as Arabs, as Muslims, as Middle Easterners, as Palestinians and Iraqis and Syrians and so on. They want us to shed all those aspects of ourselves and embrace the oppressor if the oppressor lets us dance in his disco or make out in her coffee house.
It isn’t like that. I cannot speak for anyone else but I can speak for me. I will not be used as an excuse for oppression. I will not be used as a propaganda piece to undermine democracy. I for one believe in my people and, rather than condemn them, I want them to be free. Some will hate me. Some will cast aspersions on me. Far more will ignore me. But they will be free. No more dictators, no more occupiers. Free.
I do not fear the Ikhwaan; I have sat and drunk tea and coffee with their sheikhs and I fear them no more than I fear anyone else in this country. If, when the dictators are gone and elections are held, they win, I will work to beat them the next time around. Or maybe not. I will work to change this society from within but I will not work to bring any so-called ‘freedom’ that must be imposed at gunpoint or surrounded by barbed wires and mines to preserve it. That is not freedom.
Nor will I let myself be used as propaganda for the enemies of democracy. I do not want personal freedom if it comes at the cost of the oppression of millions. Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by all.
41 comments:
Amen sister! We queers in the US forget that freedom is indivisible at our peril.
Most of the US doesn't have SF type parades so what does that prove?
That most of what she wrote is stereotyping the West and liberal thinking?
Amina - Democracy isn't a magic word. When the word Democracy is tossed in Europe, it is a given that this democracy respects basic human rights.
Your "oppressors" aren't scared of democratic Arab nations, they fear of fanatic regimes (Iran, Gaza), which only have elections and nothing else.
In the last month your dictator killed 1100 Syrians, and wounded thousands more. Your so called oppressors in the West killed...
drum rolls please - 0!!!
You might be barking at the wrong tree.
UH Jenny ... how many killed in Iraq, Libya, and Palestine by your heroes?
But I guess any excuse to denigrate the Arabs, huh?
Wonder what the pinkwashers make of this?
http://lezgetreal.com/2011/05/orthodox-and-ultra-orthodox-jewish-groups-issue-joint-anti-marriage-statement/
@ Jad
Honey, you are talking about the West in general.
The rest of us are talking about the so called oppressors Amina called out in the blog.
Please read it before you respond.
I don't believe using gay rights in Israel or anywhere else is germane to the Syrian freedom movement or the issue of Palestinian statehood. These are ideas that have to stand on their own merits.
Pinkwashing isn't the problem. In fact, pinkwashing actually detracts from the real problem- institutionalized bias against gays.
The UN has commented on Treatment and human rights situation of homosexuals in Syria.
See this: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4a16a9d92.pdf
The matter of gay rights in the Palestinian territories has also been well documented. Wherever one stands on Israel/Palestine, the record of gay rights in the PA and the treatment of gays is a matter of concern.
One would hope that a future Palestinian state would reflect Israeli attitudes towards gays as opposed to attitudes prevalent- and well documented- in the region.
The matter of gay rights will eventually have to be addressed by regimes in the Arab world.
brilliant
Excellent piece of writing Amina.
And in reply, the usual pretentious prattle from the West (of the North Atlantic), the dictionary swallowers and bombers for freedom etc - who know nothing of real life.
Do you think that the "Arab World" should impose democracy on Florida?
Micah, you said: "One would hope that a future Palestinian state would reflect Israeli attitudes towards gays as opposed to attitudes prevalent- and well documented- in the region."
Firstly, this is a further example of the very pinkwashing that Amina speaks of, and you're not even aware that you’re doing it. Pinkwashing is the mobilization of arguments purportedly in defense of Palestinian gay rights to whitewash the reality of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, not just in the "territories" but in Israel proper.
Why, if gay Palestinians are so hospitably treated upon entering Israel, as you claim – the truth being that most of them are without legal rights and therefore seeking asylum - is it the case that so many Palestinian residents and actual citizens of Israel are denied their legal, civil and municipal rights, treated as third-class citizens and subject to institutionalised racism??
Your assessment is, if anything, only applicable to a small percentage of well-connected Palestinians. The reality for the remainder is far more precarious than you care to recognize.
Despite advances in some areas of gay rights in Israel, open military service (how progressive!), and some legal benefits for same-sex couples, the fact remains that most of the gains won by gay Israelis have been on a case-by-case basis in the courts. So it’s not as “institutional” as you like to make out.
In 2005, during the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, which was almost banned and later condemned widely by religious groups in the city, a Jewish man stabbed 3 people while claiming to be sent by God. That sounds rather like the image you must have of homophobic Muslim clerics in Gaza on a mission to kill the gays, no?
At least have the decency to admit that religious extremism is alive and well in Israeli society, even if by “extremism”, you are willing to look the other way on Israeli settlers who kill Palestinians in Hebron in their “divine” mission as the “chosen-people”.
In 2009 a gunman went on a shooting spree at a gay center in Tel Aviv, following which a whole spate of articles emerged on the levels of homophobia in Israel, and a Haaretz poll that showed nearly half of Israelis believed, then, that homosexuality is a perversion. This is only two years ago.
It is true that Palestinians are now living (especially in Gaza) in a more religiously and socially conservative society than in previous decades. Years of brutal occupation play no small part in this. Israel’s diligent work (along with the US) was also very successful in fomenting this conservatism as a deliberate antidote to the secular and popular nationalist movement that was unifying Palestinians in their struggle.
I can tell you from my family's knowledge of Palestinian society before 48, that it was quite an open society with respect to women and how they dressed for instance. Like in Iraq in 2003, the course that Palestinian society was on was abruptly and violently altered.
This conservatism in Palestine is actually quite new, and I don’t say that to discredit the legitimate election by the majority of Palestinians of Hamas in 2006 (whether one likes the party or not). I say this to counter – as Amina put it – your “Moozlim” stereotyping that assumes that all of Gaza and Iran are a monolith of backward Ayrabs who know little of the Western, enlightened freedoms you people enjoy in Israel.
As for gay Palestinians, many of them who go Israel in search of a better life, end up in the usual desperate state of precarity. Unless of course they are well-connected and well-off, in which case they probably relocated voluntarily to Tel Aviv – and they’re not the majority.
Those that flee, enter Israel as asylum seekers and we know what happens to them on the whole. Most are treated as security risks, the "enemy within" and placed under house arrest, bribed into working as agents and many others are simply sent back. So much for fostering “freedom” for Palestinians in Israel…Pinkwashing is the issue Micah.
JC, read his post again.
He didn't pink-wash, you did. He didn't justify anything either side does in the name of gay rights.
He simply wished LGBT in a future Palestinian country would get a treatment closer to what Israel gives them today, then what they currently receive.
"Why, if gay Palestinians are so hospitably treated upon entering Israel, as you claim – the truth being that most of them are without legal rights and therefore seeking asylum"
That has nothing to do with them being gay, and everything to do with them being immigrates. Stop pink-washing.
I suggest you read this article, since it appears you clearly do NOT know much about the subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Israel
You could blame it all on the US and Israel, but truth is the Palestinians are the only ones who dictate their racism toward gay people.
Peace and love,
A gay and scared Palestinian
JC
As I noted in my initial remark, I believe the treatment of gays in Israel or anywhere else ought not be conflated with events in the region.
Israel's treatment of gays is well documented.
Start here:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c22547,4565c25f563,3ae6ad6370,0.html
More importantly and germane, see this from the Independent Gay Forum: http://igfculturewatch.com/2002/08/28/israel-palestine-and-gays/
See the wiki entry on LGBT rights in Israel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Israel#Recognition_of_same-sex_relationships
Israel does recognize same sex marriages, adoption by gays, has open gays in the military and so on.
My remarks are and were centered around gay rights in Israel versus the PA and most of the Arab world. As I noted from the outset, they do not take the conflict into consideration.
Furthermore, your remarks are re the shooting Tel Aviv are disharmonious at best. That singular event was roundly criticized. Do you seriously want to compare attacks on gays in Israel versus attacks on gays in the Palestinian Territories? Do you really want to go there?
In addition, there is no organized or state sponsored persecution of gays are there is in the Palestinian Territories.
Hamas'attitude toward gays goes back a long ways. They made no secret of their beliefs.
See Hamas say gays are perverts will be punished if they win elections: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-116.html/
Comparison of the treatment of gays in Israel versus the treatment of gays in the Palestinian Territories or most of the Arab world isn't made on a level playing field.
Israel can certainly be criticized for many things but her treatment of gays isn't one of them.
As I have noted before, my remarks have only addressed the treatment of gays in the region, nothing else.
Anonymous - with respect, how on earth are my comments pink-washing??
I regard pink-washing, whether explicit or implicit, to be the perpetuating of the idea that Israel is a haven of freedom for gay Palestinians. I am NOT glorifying Palestinian society as being widely progressive on the issue. I simply argues, firstly, that things are not so black and white and I am sick to death of people in the West and Israel trying to paint things as so monolithic. I thought I explained that perfectly well.
Secondly, I know a lot about the subject because I am a gay Palestinian, Micah is not, and I do know quite a bit about the subject, as do many of my peers who are active in organisations like Al-Qaws and Aswat, all of whom would stand by the same position that I have put forward.
It's just nonsense to imply that, unless you are a Palestinian "asylum seeker" or "immigrant" you are treated well and given freedom to live. I have referenced real, documented examples of how many gay Palestinians are treated, and most who do enter Israel, enter with "immigrant" status, because they are not recognised as having any real rights or claim to rights in Israel.
If you want to pretend that Israel and the US have no hand in what has happened to our society or to our country, than in my view this is a sad delusion. I don't mean that in a condescending way..
Micah - how can you suggest to anyone that we make sense of the treatment of gay Palestinians in a vacuum?? It IS pink-washing to try and remove these experiences from the wider context of Israeli racism, Apartheid and Occupation... oh an colonialism and imperialism, because almost all of the laws that criminalise homosexuality in the region were imposed by our colonial rulers. That's not to let specific regimes off the hook - no one can accuse me (who knows me) of being an apologist for any of these regimes. But I will not stand idly by as others try and paint Israel to be a beacon of freedom for Palestinians in any shape or form.
Again you can quote who you like, there are equivalent quotes to be found among the Israeli extremist religious community. The starting point shouldn't be how to compare who or where is worse, but to situate it honestly in the political context that is determining the course of Palestinian lives.
Anonymous - I don't know your history or personal circumstances, perhaps you are among a minority of Palestinians in Israel (if you are) that is living a better life now. I wish you well, but there is a wider pattern at work, and as a Palestinian lesbian, and I am well placed to comment.
"Why, if gay Palestinians are so hospitably treated upon entering Israel, as you claim – the truth being that most of them are without legal rights and therefore seeking asylum - is it the case that so many Palestinian residents and actual citizens of Israel are denied their legal, civil and municipal rights, treated as third-class citizens and subject to institutionalised racism??"
My earlier comment above was exactly to make the point that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Israel, gay, straight, "illegal", "resident", "citizen" are subject to the same oppression and inequality.
I am not pink-washing and excusing what happens in some parts of Palestine, a lot needs to change in our society, but it won't under occupation, and let's get things straight when holding up Israeli treatment of Palestinians, inside and out, on a pedestal.
I wrote a long comment and published it before the one just above and somehow it vanished, this is what I remember of what I said!:
Anonymous, with respect, how on earth were my comments pink-washing??
Pink-washing, in my view, is the explicit or implicit perpetuation of the idea that Israel is somehow a haven for Palestinian gays, while glossing over or omitting any mention of widespread Israeli oppression, racism and Apartheid. This is nonsense. And I do know a thing or two about this because I myself am a gay Palestinian, Micah is not.
And most of my peers in organizations like Al-Qaws and Aswat would stand by the same position that I put forward.
I am sick to death of people in the West and Israel talking about how terrible things are for Palestinians while remaining mute on the brutality of a murderous Occupation.
Micah, you keep mentioning that we should not conflate these issues with the wider issues in the region. How on earth do you defend talking about Palestinian oppression of gays in a vacuum?? It can only be understood in the wider context of Occupation, colonialism and imperialism. Let’s remember that in the region, all of the laws criminalizing homosexuality were imposed by our colonial rulers. There is a long history of this and it’s legacy is responsible for much of the mess we see now.
I am NOT an apologist for any of the corrupt and repressive regimes in the Middle East, but to try and remove a discussion about Palestinian gay rights from the wider political context is at best ignorant, and at worst… an exercise in pink-washing!
Anonymous, I don’t know your personal history (and you don’t know mine) and it may be the case that you have found a better life in Israel (or that you wish to). If you have, good luck to you genuinely. But I have referenced real, existing and widespread cases of what happens to most Palestinian gays who flee to Israel. And most of them are given “immigrant” status, because they do not have rights or aren’t allowed a claim to rights in Israel.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Israel, be they gay, straight, “immigrant”, “resident” or “citizen” are faced with the same racism, discrimination and oppression as any other Palestinian. If there are a few golden cases which are the exception to the rule, then that is just what they are, exceptions. And as a Palestinian lesbian, I am indeed, well placed to comment.
Lastly, pink-washing can by found in what is implied rather than explicitly said. It's often the case that what is unsaid is more revealing than what is! So when Micah says he hopes that Palestine in the future will adopt more of the Israeli attitude, it's founded on a fallacy which utterly distorts the reality of Israel's treatment of Palestinians across the board.
JC, I will ask you again- Do you really want to compare the treatment of gays in Israel (even Palestinian gays) and the treatment of gays (and atheists and other minorities in the Palestinians and Arab world? Do you really want to go there?
Do you really want to compare Israel and the rest of the Arab world on the application of human rights- any human right?
Why is it survey after survey indicates that a significant number of Palestinians want to stay under Israeli rule (see Pechter Polls)?
Why is it some Palestinian villages do not want to be included in a land swap that would transfer them to Palestinian governance?
Why is it the Alawites in Southern Lebanon villages wanted to remain under Israel authority as opposed to return to Lebanese authority?
These sentiments are not new.
"The Hell of Israel Is Better than the Paradise of Arafat" is a refrain long heard.
We can discuss the Israeli Palestinian conflict, to be sure. Israel can be mightily criticized.
Nevertheless, when it comes to rights, Israel stands head and shoulders above the Palestinians and pretty much everyone else in the region. That nation is far from perfect but on the issues of rights it isn't even close.
I'm sure you are familiar with Aswat. There is a reason they are headquartered in Israel and not on the Palestinian territories.
Ask atheists, gays and other minorities, religious or cultural. Ask the Kurds, or the Ahwazi Arabs.
Irshad Manji, Nonie Darwish and Wafa Sultan for starters, have all made the case far better than I.
I could go on, but you get the point.
"Nevertheless, when it comes to rights, Israel stands head and shoulders above the Palestinians and pretty much everyone else in the region. That nation is far from perfect but on the issues of rights it isn't even close."
I'm sorry Micah, it's just BS. Compare all you want, it means absolutely ZERO when you ignore the absolute barbarity of Israeli crimes for decades in Palestine and in Lebanon, the theft and appropriation of land, the theft of resources and water, the racism and lack of democratic rights for Palestinians, I could go on...
Of course you'll find token Palestinians in Abu Gosh and elsewhere who have totally sold-out and who have bought the lies of Israeli "democracy" and "enlightenment". Not me, nor millions of others in the region and the world.
As for Aswat, it is in "Israel" because it is based in Haifa, Palestine (and colonised by Israel and so thus falling within the boundaries of Israel proper). Sure, it might be more difficult to set-up shop in Ramallah or elsewhere, but there is an occupation going on and it has an impact on social and civil freedoms. Again, I said earlier that before 48, religious expression was not of the ultra-conservative type. Women had a great deal more freedom, wore short skirts (as if that's the only benchmark of progressive living!)..
Go speak to some Palestinians who are neither cowed nor brainwashed into believing this narrative of yours.
Hell, just visit one of the links Amina included in her post to find out what other gay Palestinians think!
I understand your emotional response- and is an emotional response as opposed to a more measured and rational one.
Nevertheless, to say that somehow human rights in Israel are somehow equivalent to human rights in the Arab world is absurd. As I noted, there is a reason so many Palestinians want to stay under Israeli rule.
Let me put it to you this way: If there were a peace treaty tomorrow between Israel and the Palestinians, nothing in the Palestinian territories or the Arab world (for the most part) would be different. As it stands, the Arab world (without change) would still be among the most repressive places on earth as it relates to human rights.
Israel is a liberal democracy, with free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of sexuality. None of those rights exist in the Arab world in any meaningful way.
As for 'speaking to Palestinians', I have. I have been to Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and throughout he Gulf. I have been afforded great hospitality and graciousness, beyond expectations. I have also seen hostility, bigotry and racism that was astonishing.
I do not blame the Arab population- they have been used and abused by their own leadership for decades. They Arab ummah is a shell of what it once was.
The fact remains there is nothing Israel could do to Palestinians or other Arabs that their own dysfunctional leaders haven't already done for decades.
You can blame the Israelis for all that ails the Palestinians and the Arab world, but when all is said and done, everyone knows better.
A few years ago a friend in Syria noted bitterly to me "the real naqbah has been audio and video tape. We can no longer hide what we have become from the world or from ourselves".
Perhaps that is why you are reluctant to answer the points I have raised.
I bear you no ill will- just the opposite in fact. I hope someday you can tear yourself away from the poison that has rotted away so many generations.
JC
There are all kind of views on websites.
See the the links I posted in my previous comments for some other points of view. Consider the views of Manji, Darwish and Sultan, for example (I don't agree with all they have to say by the way, but I do find some of their critiques rather pointed).
In any event, I wish you well.
I was quite rational, and Micah I'm sorry to tell you that most people in the world know better about Israel actually. A lot of what you say is just baseless.
I have not been trying to equate Israel's record on LGBT rights to that in Arab countries, it would be pointless. I am simply saying that you are distorting the reality of Israel's record both in relation to gay Israelis and most certainly to Palestinians, for all of the reasons I have given.
It's baseless to say that most Palestinians want to remain under Israeli control. I can tell you that what many of those who take this position can see the direction that "peace" negotiations will take if the Israeli government has its way: tat is that many of the villages inside "Israel", and therefore allowing the Palestinians in them access to Jerusalem etc and parts of Palestine they have always known, is under real risk of being stripped from them if they are "transferred" to PA rule, which would mean a redrawing of the boundaries in which these villages sit.
That is NOT equivalent to the interpretation you give from your reading of the same poll you keep quoting, which is to say that it is because they prefer to live under Israeli laws. Some may say so, but the reason I have given is widely known to be the real one. It would spell a further displacement - even if not physically - but in terms of access to Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine (now Israel).
I am not reluctant to answer the other points you have raised because I don't know how to reply, but rather because they frankly aren't serious enough to respond to.
Israeli society and it's self-delusions, especially with regard to the Nakbah and the one that is still ongoing, to the fundamental injustice underlying Israel's creation, to the systemic racism that fuels wanton murder and violence all over the country and across its borders, all of this is a poison that is not only destroying Israeli society but also the moral fabric of large sections of the Jewish community worldwide.
JC-
It is not a delusion that Israel is a first world nation in every sense of the word.
It is not a delusion that Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world.
It is not a delusion that Israel has the second highest output of books published per citizen in the world.
It is not a delusion that Israelis hold more patents per person than do citizens of any other nation.
It is not a delusion that more than 85% of all solid waste in Israel is treated in an environmentally sound manner.
It is not a delusion that Israeli companies, Amdocs, Comverse and Nice pioneered voicemail, SMS and other cellular phone services.
It is not a delusion that Israel has the highest concentration of high tech companies industries in the world, relative to it’s population.
It is not a delusion that ICQ, the technology that powers AOL Instant Messenger, was developed in 1996 by a team of 4 young Israelis.
It is not a delusion that Israeli start-up company TransChip developed the first high resolution camera that fits on a single electronic chip, for use in cellular phones.
It is not a delusion that Israel is one of only eight countries in the world capable of launching their own satellites into space.
It is not a delusion that Israelis developed the world’s first cellphone at the Motorola research lab in Haifa, that companies largest research center in the world.
It is not a delusion that Israel ranks third, after the US and Canada, in the number of publicly traded companies on Wall Street.
It is not a delusion that Israel has more scientists and engineers per capita than any other nation in the world.
It is not a delusion that American industry giants such as GM, Ford and Lockheed Martin manage their manufacturing facilities using software written by Tecnomatix, an Israeli company.
It is not a delusion that Israeli company Given Imaging developed a video camera small enough to fit inside of a pill. The camera helps doctors diagnose digestive tract diseases.
It is not a delusion thatIsraeli scientists developed the first computerized radiation free diagnostic scanning device for detecting breast cancer.
It is not a delusion that Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation in the world.
I could go on and on, but in the end, Israel is a free and democratic society. As I noted Israel is a liberal democracy, with free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of sexuality.
Now, your final remarks are entirely absurd.
If you were really concerned about systematic racism and moral decay I can point you to thousands of transcripts and recorded examples of state sponsored institutionalized racism, bigotry and racism in Palestinian media, school curricula and even from some religious pulpits.
You say the points I raised are 'not serious enough to answer'. I say you cannot answer them.
Now for the bad news: I'm not Jewish.
Yet again I've been drawn into another running argument with you Micah! My very last comment...
I never assumed either way that you were or were not Jewish, so sorry, that's not much of a shock finale.
All of the statements you made had one glaring thing in common: they have absolutely nothing to do with Palestinians in Israel! I don't doubt that technologically or economically Israel is doing quite well - although this too can be over exaggerated. But in what way do any of your assertions above reflect on Palestinian quality of life in Israel or counter the reality of racism and inequality??
Yes, yes we all know the narrative of the so-called "Khamas" militants who teach children en-masse to be suicide bombers and to maim Israeli children.. well that's a gross distortion also.
Sure, many young kids in Gaza especially - the most desperate - are taught about the so-called value of "martyrdom", and if they are taught to hate Israelis, it is a response to a learnt knowledge of the hatred and racism of Israelis towards Palestinians and Arabs in general. Of course there are exceptions but they remain a minority, as in any settler society.
I am not excusing what hate is recycled in some parts of Palestine, I am simply saying that when one society terrorises (and yes Palestinians have also done the same in response but in much much smaller measure), when one society terrorises another, and they are the instigators of this terror (in 1948 and since), before which there was no "mutual hatred" and blood-letting as so many Zionists like to claim, then you will breed a new generation of Palestinians that only see hate in response to the hate inflicted on them and will only use primitive terror to fight the far more lethal terror rained down on them for decades. It's called cause and effect.
Despite this though, most Palestinians do not hate in the way you describe. And yet Israel remains (and this is documented) a society with anti-Arab racism on the rise.
Would you care to acknowledge the racism and bigotry in Israeli school curriculum? In the Israeli media? From not just religious pulpits but from the Israeli mainstream? Who are you kidding?
JC
State sponsored, institutionalized racism does not exist in Israel.
There are racists and individuals who are free to voice their ugly opinions but they are speaking as individuals, not as representatives of the state.
As I noted, you really don't want to compare Israel and the Palestinians when it comes to human rights.
As for Palestinian hate, there are plenty of examples available- thousands. I am reluctant to post them here out of respect for out host for whom hate is antithetical.
Micah: "State sponsored, institutionalized racism does not exist in Israel."
That's really laughable.
And by the way, if by "antithetical" in this context, you mean that hate in direct opposition to everything one stands for, then that includes me also.
I am not being hateful (and I'm not suggesting that you are being hateful in this forum) but I am just calling things by their true name.
JC
Come on, you truly think that homophobia is a result of the occupation? that's a fucking joke.
You see it in almost every country in the middle east, countries which have nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with fanatic governments, and you still blame Israel and the US for it?
"Let’s remember that in the region, all of the laws criminalizing homosexuality were imposed by our colonial rulers. "
Israel had them as well, but they were cancelled. Why didn't it happen in PA?
Israel is a haven for gay people, and I've already linked you to Wikipedia, so you could educate yourself.
Seems you didn't, since you're still pink-washing.
You justify homophobia in the PA with the sins of Israel. THAT'S pink-washing.
Read what Micha wrote. There's a reason Israel achieved so much, and we didn't - democracy and respecting human rights.
So you could carry on blaming them like the Hamas wants you to, pink-washing all our sins, or ask yourself if maybe - just maybe - they are using an external enemy to blind the people from their true oppressors.
Same as Assad, Ahmadinejad, and Mubarak do.
Using racism and hate to make us blame the wrong people, not wrong ideals, for leading us into the mess we are in today.
"(in 1948 and since), before which there was no "mutual hatred" and blood-letting as so many Zionists like to claim"
That's just plain wrong. Read about the Hebron massacre, the Jaffa riots.
There was racism and blood shed - on both sides - as well as places where people lived peacefully side by side.
Our greatest tragedy is that in 1948 while Israel strived to create a country to live in, we didn't. We chose a different path. Could you tell me what it is?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_UN_Partition_Plan
We could have agreed to getting 44% of Palestine and live in peace, being an ally of the most gay friendly country in the middle east.
It's sad how much blood we have to shed, only because our leaders are so stupid.
Respectfully,
A gay and scared Palestinian, who also recommends you read 1984
Anonymous, read carefully what I wrote because I never said that the Occupation, Israel or the US are solely responsible for homophobia in Palestinian society or the region. I also made it clear that I am NOT an apologist for these regimes, so please stop throwing about the word "pink-washing" carelessly, I am not doing so.
I did say that the Occupation and the colonisation of Palestine (like imperialism in the wider region) has radically altered these societies and has turned the clocks back on them.
Iraq before the war, even while under the Western-sponsored tyranny of Saddam, was a highly developed society in terms of education, intellectual development, science, and also socially and politically at street level, despite real and terrible repression for many who opposed the regime. That does not mean I would have wanted Saddam to remain, but an imperial war to overthrow him (primarily to serve Western interests and to plunder the country as we have seen) I would never ever support.
Iraq is a devastated country and if you don’t see the relationship between the devastation of war, imperialism, sectarian violence (fomented by Iraq’s occupiers and its minority willing subjects) and the social and political rights that have all but disappeared in the country than you are rather naïve.
But please don’t put words in my mouth, I never once (and would never) justify homophobia by the PA or anyone else, I’m a Palestinian gay woman, that makes me vulnerable in many places and I have experienced how my identity puts me at risk, so please.
To just quote Wikipedia and say “Israel is a haven for gay people” is also being careless and naïve. I don’t mean to disrespect you but it’s what I see.
When I said “before 48” it is to mean before Israel’s colonization of Palestine (yes thee were massacres, many more by the colonial aggressors) but I am talking about how ordinary life was before this began.
And why would anyone agree to the partition of their country? You would have preferred that. I have read 1984, it’s one of my favorite books and it’s a shame you haven’t learned more from it, so that you might understand the wider project at work in our Middle East and the consequences they have and the desperate realities they help to foster.
Although I am against gay-marriages myself, being a practising Muslim, I believe that everyone should have the right to express themselves and defend their what they believe to be their rights in a democratic country. Sadly not everyone in the Arab world believes in freedom of expression, but changing that is going to take way more than a revolution. It will take huge changes in the educational system.
And in addition, I think it's kind of ironic that the Arab spring started in Tunisia, where gays are actually more tolerated than any other Arab country except for Lebanon, I guess.
a Great post
Fatma
It isn't ironic, it's expected.
The more civil rights there are, the more likely it is that citizens will try to trample their dictators.
This is the reason the middle east leaders have often touted religion, since its ingrained ignorance encourages the masses not to know their rights.
Dear Gay Girl in Damascus,
How do you find the time to read all the comments on your blog?
Wishing you courage and peace. Well, no, just peace, because you already have more courage than I do.
R
Micah: "Israel is a free and democratic society”
Hmm...
Does Israel have a constitution?
Why do interfaith couples marry outside of Israel?
Does the "Israel Land Administration" follow democratic principles of private property?
Excuse me people…
Yesterday,Al Jazeera reported on a 13 year old child who was tortured,mutilated,murdered and THEN returned to his parents in Daraa and you are squabbling about the 'genetic superiority of the jews' and the arab worlds record on gay rights versus Israel's?
Cprincess, I share your sentiment, but as Amina wrote in one of her most recent posts, a clarification of a very different history of Islam, one that is not monolithic, backward and inherently homophobic in the way that so many make out, it's equally important to counter these myths and stereotypes wherever they arise, because it's part of the same racism and Orientalizing (funny that Orientalism used to exoticize the Arab World and now it vilifies them!).
But you are right, people - children - are being tortured and killed in a fight for their lives, and we should remember those in Syria now…
Mashallah!
Great article.
There can be no peace in the Middle East until the Arabs learn to love there own children more than they hate Jews and Christians. Until then, there will only be allot more wars and repressions. Their religion is teaching them 5 times a day to pray "itbach al yahud". This is the socalled gaygirl's fellow protesters
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477450,00.html
Can you people honestly claim that you have been to an mosque and haven’t heard the traditionaly prayer:
“We are all Hamas, Jews to the Gas”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLlHPPO25nM skip to 1:05
Here’s a bit of Muslims celebrating the genocide committed by American Muslims on 9/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrM0dAFsZ8k
This is the mentality of these people not even deserve to be called human, but they are lived like animals.
All the talk of democracy and freedom is lies and only stupid braindead leftist will swallow this lies. Really the only goal for all these barabraians is to make a genocide of Jews and finish what Hitler started, this is the goal of all these groups. Then when Israel is killed they will come for the west. Already they are committing genocides against the former free peoples of Europe, in Serbia, Cyprus, Germany, Belgium, France, Denmark Is it safe for Jew to live in Malmo when these monsters are there?
In England, they are working very hard to whip out the free people and anything of English freedom. Then America. We need stop this madness!
Bravo and mashallah, Amina. You are so wise and such a good writer.
Why don't people read "Islamicate Sexualities" by Babayan and Najmabadi and "Producing Desire" by Zeevi
You will discover that homosexuality and transsexualism was open and Islamic society was more tolerant than the West, certainly than Jewish Society, which even now can be extremely homophobic, (watch Eyes wide open) and more tolerant than Christianity. In fact at the turn of the twentieth century, the Middle East was condsidered 'permissive' by Western travellers. When homosexuality was illegal in Britain, amongst those who could afford many places in the Middle East were popular destinations for either sexual recreation to stay longer and live more freely without fear of being arrested.
It is only since Western society has become more tolerant that the opposite has occurred in Middle Eastern society. To exploit oil, this needs to occur, for Western politics needed to create an 'other', the 'out goup' the 'different' in order to dehumanise. There is no way the UK could exploit France, or occupy them or kill thousands of civilians because they are not an 'other'. There would (and should) be outrage if people realised the games played and people killed for economical reasons were just like you and I. So as the West broke its shackles of patriarchalism, religosity (though not US) and bigotry to keep up the 'other', Islamic societies had to stop being so open and tolerant. Luckily the West had friends who set up Wahibism and the process of propaganda in getting them to spread a distorted and extreme form of Islam around the world began. Ironically they didn't need to spread it in countries where the main religion was already Islam, by spreading Wahabism in the West, Islamaphobia was born. Once the blinkers of Islamaphobia are on people simply generalise it to all countries and people associated with Islam.
In conclusion I agree with JC Islam is not any more homophobia than any other monotheistic religion, in fact you will find more references to homosexuality in the Torah and Old Testament than you will in the Q'oran. You cannot generalise countries as a region. Poland and Germany are next door to each other and yet have totally polarised views on homosexuality, as do Wales and Ireland and as for the USA as a gay woman I'm not sure I would feel safe visiting some states, whereas others San Fransisco I'm sure are progressive. Thus to base attitudes to homosexuality in Muslim countries on Saudi Arabia is like basing attitudes in the UK on Poland. It is racist, Islamaphobic and homophobic to generalise in such a way. That racism and Islamaphobia isolates individuals and societies and it makes it difficult for a society to change its human rights and equality legislation to protect all its individuals if doing so makes it similar to the aggressors.
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