A Palestinian artist who painted a portion of Israel’s separation wall rainbow on Monday defended his work, calling it an expression of support for the freedom of the occupied Palestinian people.
“I went and painted the colors of the rainbow (on the wall) as these colors were circulated all over the world,” Ramallah-based visual artist Khaled Jarrar said in a statement. “These colors are ultimately an expression of freedom.”
In recent days, users on social media around the world have uploaded rainbow-colored pictures and logos on to demonstrate support for a recent US Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage across that country.
The images of rainbow-colored flags have also become a common way to express support for LGBT rights and freedom of expression for sexual orientation and gender identity more broadly.
Jarrar said in the statement that he painted the flag in order to highlight the continuing oppression and lack of freedom that Palestinians experience under Israeli occupation.
“My goal is to send out a message to the whole world, which is celebrating freedom, about the oppressed people living under military occupation, mainly embodied in the Qalandiya checkpoint and the Apartheid Wall.”
“This work comes in a purely political context to draw the world’s attention of the Palestinian question, the wall, apartheid, and occupation.
By late Monday, the rainbow flag had drawn local and international attention, with hundreds in Palestine and abroad sharing images of the painting and posting positive comments.
At the same time, some users on social media reacted negatively. Some called the painting of the flag a sign of disrespect to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as it partially covered nearby graffiti calling for their release.
Others, however, took offense at the flag’s association with gay marriage, and on Monday evening a few men gathered and painted over it.
The painting over of the flag, however, drew the ire of many Palestinians on social media, who decried the move as “backwards” and “stupid.”
The debate over the flag may reflect the fact that while homosexuality is legal under Palestinian law in the West Bank, open expression of queer identity remains an issue of controversy in many parts of the country.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, the British law prohibiting same-sex relations remains technically in force, though prosecution is rare or nonexistent.
A number of organizations dedicated to queer and trans rights exist within Palestinian society, most prominently Al Qaws and Aswat, and they have pushed for greater social openness around sexuality more broadly.
Activists say that Israel has made their work more difficult, however, by trying to portray itself as a savior of gay Palestinians.
Many have accused the Israeli government of “pinkwashing” the occupation by trying to sell the country as gay-friendly abroad in order to obscure its myriad human rights violations against Palestinians.
Activists argue, however, that queer Palestinians suffer under the occupation just like all other Palestinians, and denounce what they deem a “colonial logic” that is reminiscent of divide-and-conquer tactics.
In 2014, 43 Israeli military intelligence reservists said in a letter that they would refuse to serve any longer because of what they called the “political persecution” of Palestinians, which they said included the blackmailing of LGBTQ Palestinians.
The reservists admitted in the letter that the Israeli military tracked Palestinian sexual preferences and would “make (…) life miserable” for “homosexuals” who happened to know wanted individuals, confirming what Palestinian activists had been saying for years prior.
While I applaud Mr. Jarrars intention and solidarity why did he have to paint it over somebody else’s work? The call for freedom for prisoners has been a part of the wall for years, it has become part of the image for liberation.
Should the wall have the rainbow flag on it? For sure. I just disagree that it had to come at the expense of another artist whose message is no less important than jarrars.
With that said, since it was already painted it saddens me that it was painted over.
Isn’t it a street art rule…that eventually…every tag is eventually covered over by another artists tag…over and over, layer upon beautiful layer?
Not to disagree with you…that It hurts a bit see one disappear.
Since the Palestinians have so much to say, too little space to say it in, and far too few freedoms overall then far be it from me to criticize their expressions/actions on the illegal wall.
Thanks, Alex!
I have no doubt that the painting over of the rainbow flag will be seen and presented, by anti-Arab types, as another example of how backward and socially repressive Palestinian culture is. If Bill Maher does not mention it on his show I’ll be very surprised, since he’s already discussed how awful Arab men treat their women. I don’t know how many times I have heard Zionist or pro-Israel types wag their fingers and say “you Palestinians really need to liberate your Gay folk before you start complaining about any repression Israel commits.” This is stupid; how can the Palestinian LGBTQ community attain any sort of real freedom when they will still be repressed as non-Jews? And are Palestinian attitudes towards their LGBTQ people out of line with Jewsh Israeli attitudes? Given that most of the Jews in Israel hail from Arab countries I would be very surprised if this was the case.
The African American community during the civil rights era did not have to deal with any pressures to “liberate” their Gay community because back then everyone was still in the closet. Few in America at that time were championing the rights of the LGBTQ community and Black America was no different. One has only to look at the treatment of Bayard Rustin to see these attitudes at play. Nevermind the enormous contributions he made during the civil rights era, in the end he was pushed aside because his homosexuality was seen as a liability. The civil rights leadership felt, with justification, that the way to get white America on their side was to show that they were not dangerous radicals trying to overturn society but respectable folk who were demanding their constitutional rights and a share of the pie. And though I think things have gotten better there is still too much homophobia in the black community.
I think it would be really great if Mondoweiss could get someone from the LGBTQ Palestinian community to write somewhat more in depth about the pressures this group faces, not just from other Palestinians but from the Israeli government. In the meantime I will ignore any criticisms offered by said government or its die hard supporters. Since no one on that side is demanding that the blackmailing of LGBTQ people by be stopped I can only think they see nothing wrong with it.
The Associated Press has already picked up on this story. In the wire story “Angry protesters whitewash rainbow flag on West Bank barrier”, Israel’s attitude is contrasted with its neighbors’.
Very disheartening.