At this year's 2012 Equality Forum on advancing the rights of international LGTBQ communities, the "featured nation," Israel, will pinkwash itself, exploiting Tel Aviv's gay culture in order to make conference goers into hasbara-ites. Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren and drag performer Osher Sabag will take the lead in molding a new crop of "cheerleaders for Israel," with Oren as the summit's keynote speakers.
equality forum
"Since 2000 Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, has had a policy of blackmailing Palestinians who are gay or who are perceived to be gay and threatening to out them unless they become informants against their own people," said professor Katherine Franke in a statement of boycott against the summit. "For this reason, gay people in Palestine have a reputation as collaborators with Israel – so some of the homophobia gays and lesbians in Palestine experience is the direct product of the occupation itself."
Franke had originally agreed to speak on a panel at this year's conference, however, after Palestinian Queers for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions called for a boycott, she removed herself from the event. Instead, she produced the above video short, which was played at the summit. Franke was also part of the first LGBTQ delegation to Palestine, visiting the region earlier this year.
"It's one thing to express our solidarity with gays and lesbians in another country such as Israel, it's quite another to become pawns in that country's foreign policy strategy," said Franke.
Read the full transcript of Franke's video statement.
/For this reason, gay people in Palestine have a reputation as collaborators with Israel/
So that’s why they hate gay people, it’s Israel all over again.
Nothing to do with the indigenous culture and religion that as we all know
loves and accepts gay people.
Your comprehension skills are below school level. Or you just like misreading and deliberately misunderstanding a straighforward report.
Oleg – nice try at changing the subject to what “we all know” and can agree on about Arabs: “they” hate gays, but “we” love them.
Although this is irrelevant to the subject of Israeli intimidation of Palestinian gays, Prof. Franke anticipated this diversionary tactic too.
From the transcript above:
“While Tel Aviv may have a hot and hunky gay bar scene – the tolerance or acceptance of homosexuality is not as common elsewhere in the country. …. A recent report documented that almost half of the out gays and lesbians serving in the Israeli military have been sexually harassed by other servicemembers, and a member of the Knesset and Education Minister recently said that gays “are not people like everyone else,” that we are an abomination.”
>> So that’s why they hate gay people, it’s Israel all over again.
No, what’s Israel all over again is this:
>> “Since 2000 Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, has had a policy of blackmailing Palestinians who are gay or who are perceived to be gay and threatening to out them unless they become informants against their own people … ”
But you knew that. You just like being a dick.
And, for the record, I think it’s an enormous failing on the part of Arabs / Palestinians / Muslims that some (many? most?) are intolerant of homosexuals (or anything else that is the business only of the two consenting adults involved).
But that in no way excuses the Glorious Jewish State for engaging in blackmail.
The ‘indigenous culture’ is actually about the same in the Middle East for gay men and women as it was in western countries just a few decades ago. And I’m not speculating – I have lived and travelled throughout the ME and I felt no more or less safe than when I was in a western country. Legally, less so, but the respect for privacy that is common in ME countries means you can effectively just do your own thing.
It never fails to tick me off when amnesiac fools make comparisons to Middle Eastern countries and western countries, as though the west has been a bastion of womens/gay/any other minority rights for hundreds of years.
It hasn’t, and those rights have been fought for tooth and nail.
I don’t believe you have an ounce of concern for any LGBT people in the ME, you’re just using them to try and score points. And evidently you don’t know a thing about the history of LGBT people in western countries so better to just keep quiet.
Of course you are free to make a fool of yourself.
/It hasn’t, and those rights have been fought for tooth and nail./
Fair enough.
How about you travel to a middle eastern country other then Israel
and try fighting for LGBT rights for tooht and nail
how far do you think it will get you at the current state of affairs.
/I don’t believe you have an ounce of concern for any LGBT people in the ME/
I am not gay that is true but the fact remains the only country in the middle
east where gay people have rights (for which they fought tooth and nail that is correct) is Israel.
Like it or not.
Jewish gays have rights. Israel does not specifically persecute Palestinians for being gay but that’s not going to do you a whole lot of good if you can’t build a house.
How about you stop using LGBT people in ME to try and score rhetorical points – as I said before I don’t believe you have an ounce of genuine concern for their welfare or well-being.
It is irrelevant whether LGBT people have equal rights in Israel or not – Israel is *still* an apartheid state.
@ OlegR,
As far as I know gay and lesbians are up against quite a lot of oppression and hatred around the globe, but according to you that’s only an ME thingie?
There are levels to oppression and hatred.
Not so recently being publicly gay would get you kicked out of the army
in the US.
In Iran however it might get you hanged by the neck till death.
A subtle difference…
@ OlegR,
Gays and lesbians have died at the hands of individuals and governments all over the globe. Don’t use their suffering to defend the indefensible. Their struggle is their own, personal holocaust, not yours or mine.
this is especially for you oleg:
link to twitter.com
History according to Oren:
You will NOT stop us from guarenteeing gay rights!
“Nothing to do with the indigenous culture and religion that as we all know
loves and accepts gay people.”
Glad that you unwittingly recognise that there is an “indigenous” culture. And who are you again? And how high is your pulpit? Homosexuality in past times was tied to power relations and conflict, with the sodomisation and abuse of vulnerable men tied into it. It is convenient for you to preach from the confines of a civil society in the age of consent. Let’s not forget that martial rape was considered legal in many western democracies a few decades ago, but with the production of knowledge and women’s movements led by women it changed. The fact that Palestinians have not yet recognised gay rights does not make it an “indigenous” problem, it depends on socio-economic factors and the production of knowledge, both of which are hindered by Israel and bolstered by of the identification of imperialism by conservatives in Palestine.
/ The fact that Palestinians have not yet recognised gay rights/ ,/ it depends on socio-economic factors and the production of knowledge, both of which are hindered by Israel/
Really ,again Israel is to blame.
How about the rest of the Arab world ?
Iran ?
Oleg, if you are truly concerned about gay rights in the rest of the Arab world and Iran, why don’t you do something about it instead of defending Israel’s unequal treatment of its residents, including citizens, on the basis of ethnicity and ancestry? Why should you, or any of us, be concerned with gay rights at all? To me, there is only one answer: because all people should be treated equally, regardless of sexual orientation. Those who claim to subscribe to that principle, but who sanction and even vigorously support a system and government that discriminates on other bases are hypocrites.
OlegR, I was responding to you within the context of the discussion you kick started. Of course it’s a similar story in the Arab World and anywhere else where the production of knowledge is impeded and people experience feelings of alienation owing to socio-economic factors. There’s a critical sociology text by Riaz Hassan called Inside Muslim Minds which explains this point. In the case of the Occupied Territories, Israel plays a significant role in how people produce knowledge and discuss issues. Also homophobia as it is described has become more trenchant in modern times so your reference to “indigenous” culture is factually incorrect.
I can see and feel your love for the gay. When the Palestinina gay comes to your home in Tel Aviv, please house him, feed him, give him job( or ask the worried Israelis to do so ) and declare that in Israel he has all the rights as a human being and he will not be handed to Hamsa or Iranain or PA even if he dieceds not to support the policies of Israel on Gaza/Iran/Lebanon or West Bank. Also tell the militray and the Shin Bet and IDF not to out those Paklestinian LGBT to their family or PA police or anybody even if they raise anti Israel slogan or write in blogs against occupation. Do that for your love. Just dont talk the talk like Israel is doing for peace , talking the talk and ousting the indigenous from their homes and Olive ground.
What a wonderful statement! A compelling, comprehensive rebuttal to Israel’s pinkwashing. She makes a lot of excellent points here. I laughed when she says that Oren is “mistaken” about Israel providing refuge for West Bank Palestinian gays – I detected a wink on her part.
I was very fortunate to meet Prof. Franke at a luncheon debate between Dershowitz and Scott Horton about a year and a half ago – we happened to sit at the same table. The subject was “Lawfare,” the horrifying term Israel supporters use to describe efforts to hold their favorite country to some semblance of international law – I’ve seen “diplomatic terrorism” as well. Afterward, I had a brief email exchange with her. She was very bright (obviously), knowledgeable and personable, as anyone can see from her statement here. I hope her message is well-received.
I agree, David. I know what I’m linking to, the next time the subject comes up (if someone else doesn’t beat me to it).
I especially liked this part:
I’m glad to see Israel is being recognized by gay rights organizations. Naturally, a minority will object. For some, sympathy with Arabs trumps all over concerns. But not for everyone.
Wow. I didn’t think I’d get an opportunity so soon!
Terry,
See Katherine Franke’s excellent response to the Equality Forum’s decision to make Israel this year’s featured country, and Michael Oren its keynote speaker:
Video: link to mondoweiss.net
Transcript: link to blogs.law.columbia.edu
What Franke says, in a nutshell, is that
Thanks for bringing it up.
Ha ha, concern for human rights is, Terry thinks, ‘sympathy for Arabs’ – a racist notion he imputes to others.
Clearly, what Tel Aviv police tolerates and what it does not tolerate is very different than in USA. Based on the most recent events, seems that Zochrot activists would be cheerfully ignored by the police (and tolerated by the public) if they only undressed from waist down. While in USA public nudity is typically not tolerated, and public reading from a book is.
After Bograchov and Zochrot incidents I started to read news with a different perspective. There was a report in Ha’aretz about Tel-Aviv police warning the public that African aliens may be snatching purses on Tel-Aviv beaches. Favorite tactic: they pay attention to couples who are “totally pre-occupied with themselves”. Perhaps they represent an Islamic intolerant culture and try to punish couples engaged in public sex?
@ piotr,
Q: African aliens may be snatching purses
R: Actually they were grey [to better blend in with the masses] but during entry [through the heat of the atmosphere] something went horribly wrong and now, instead of snatching up data, their on the beach. Ghonztor apologizes on behalf of himself and his people [they're squares, but what gives?].
That’s why I recommend everybody visit there – not to line the zionists pockets – but see the situation first hand. It is what awakened me to the Palestinian suffering. Nobody ever spoke about them whilst I was growing up. I went to “Israel” knowing nothing about how they took the land off the unarmed Palestinians and expelled them off their ancestral land and returned home seeking justice for Palestine and righting this wrong.
Blake, I grew up in USA knowing nothing about about the story of the Palestinians, just about Anne Frank, the German beasts. I was born during WW2. I never saw in the news anything about Israel except it was wonderful, right up to a few years ago, and that was only on the internet.
Amen, that’s what I mean. We have a lot to thank the internet for (and sites like Mondoweiss) for opening our eyes.
.
I LOVE this woman!!
Was the video actually shown at the meeting?
Haaretz reports on the Oren speech. link to haaretz.com
“The same year that the U.S. instituted Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the Israel Defense Forces specifically banned all discrimination against sexual minorities,” he said.
Referring to the “pinkwashing” claim, Oren said, “There is a small but voluble group claiming that the freedom and equal rights that Israel grants to the LGBT community is merely an attempt to camouflage our alleged oppression of the Palestinians. But a simple historic fact is that the LGBT rights movement in Israel predated Israel’s capture of the West Bank in 1967. And then even when Palestinian suicide bombers were blowing up our restaurants and buses, and terrorist missiles were pummeling or neighborhoods, still Israel provided shelter for LGBT Palestinians.”
“There are two Palestinian organizations fighting for LGBT rights in the West Bank, but they cannot freely operate there,” Oren continued. “They are both headquartered in Israel. Israel’s National LGBT Taskforce monthly receives about 3,000 distress calls from around the Middle East.”
Let me react to His Excellency.
IDF specifically banned all discrimination against sexual minorities
- The most moral army in the world shoots Palestinians irrespective of sexe. Other minorities (by religion, by ethnicity) of course are still discriminated by IDF. Also wrt shooting.
freedom and equal rights [...] to the LGBT community
- To the community? Community, not persons? How do you know membership? Pink triangle?
… But a simple historic fact is …
- “But” requires a contradiction. But there is no contradiction here. Pre-1967 existence of LBGT rights movements (sic, not rights then?) does not contradict the current PR-usage with regard to oppression and occupation. Even clearly, the go hand in hand.
when Palestinian suicide bombers … blowing up … , still Israel provided shelter for LGBT Palestinians.
- In the Nakba you expelled 750.000 Palestinians, and have never let them return. So you only threw out straight Palestinians then? Gays were safe in Nakba?
two Palestinian organizations fighting for LGBT rights in the West Bank, but they cannot freely operate there … they are both headquartered in Israel
1: Operate freely? Which Palestinian organiusation does can operate freely in the occupied West Bank?
2: HQ in Israel: wait wait. Israel has an organisation to fight for Palestinian LGBT rights, even two? Now what is wrong with these Palestinian LGBT rights in Israel for Palestinians in Israel?
3: Mr Ambassador, glad you care about LBGT issues in the West Bank. Now write Tel Aviv directly, by diplomatic channel, to change these issues.
monthly … 3,000 distress calls from around the ME
A hundred call per day? Say, and Egyptian gay would call the Israeli National (Jewish National?) center for help? Not even call a Palestinian center in Israel? Or should we understand: ME includes Israel too?
In general: Oren is playing Pinkwash 101. Pinkwashing is not about LGBT rights in occupied territories nor in Israel, mr Ambassador. It is about using their situation to cover Israeli abuse of human rights.
(Boy, did I just say to the Israeli Ambassador(!) to Washington(!) that he is talking stupid illogic false nonsense? Is it that easy? Is he that shallow?).
eguard, israelis are making a joke out of oren’s pre 67 claim.
link to twitter.com
“Since 2000 Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, has had a policy of blackmailing Palestinians who are gay or who are perceived to be gay and threatening to out them unless they become informants against their own people,” said professor Katherine Franke in a statement of boycott against the summit. “For this reason, gay people in Palestine have a reputation as collaborators with Israel – so some of the homophobia gays and lesbians in Palestine experience is the direct product of the occupation itself.”
Jesus Christ.
There is no limit below which Israel will not go.