Exposing Israel’s ‘pinkwashing’
Source: rinf.com
Pinkwashing is the word activists use to describe Israel’s branding of itself as the gay oasis of the Middle East. It’s a government-supported public relations strategy, they say, designed to help us all forget about Israel’s occupation of Palestine.These activists are part of a growing movement of anti-pinkwashers, committed to exposing Israel’s pro-gay messaging as cynical propaganda, while at the same time bringing more attention to what many have labeled as Israeli apartheid.“There’s a really strong current all over the globe” of queer Palestinian human rights activism, said 26-year-old organizer Selma Al-Aswad. “It’s a current that I didn’t feel in my early days of organizing Palestine solidarity work. That was an isolated experience, and I do not feel that isolation anymore.”LGBTQ people in Palestine with groups like al-Qaws are actively trying to dispel the myth that Palestinian queers are interested in being “rescued” and integrated into Israeli society, and advocates for Palestinians around the world are forwarding the idea that gay tolerance, like allowing gays to openly serve in the country’s conscripted military, doesn’t excuse Israel’s human rights violations. Meanwhile, in Israel’s supposed gay mecca of Tel Aviv, violence against queer people persists.A queer Palestinian American from Seattle, Al-Aswad remembers when she became aware of pinkwashing. It was the early 2000s, and she started seeing “certain messages popping up around gay culture in Israel, juxtaposing this vibrant queer community in Israel against the backdrop of bleakness in Palestine.”The most difficult to stomach, for her, are the messages that tell a certain narrative seen in the film The Invisible Men, which centers around conflicted love between gay Palestinians and Israelis. In the movie, Israel is depicted as a gay haven, while the West Bank is shown as being a dark, dangerous place for queer people. In the end, the invisible men of Palestine turn to Israel for salvation.[...]Read the full article at: rinf.com
