Of some interest perhaps...
Don't Boycott World Pride Jerusalem by Alexandra Simonon
http://liberoblog.com/2005/06/27/dont-boycott-world-pride-jerusalem/
They tried to boycott the academics; it didn’t work. AUT members turned up
en masse to overturn the proposed boycott of three Israeli universities.
All had their own reasons, but most of them were probably aware that there
is a strong current against the occupation amongst Israeli academics, many
of whom support the refuseniks and denounce the actions and policies of
their government. Anyone truly interested in the future of Palestine could
see that Israeli academics needed and deserved our support.
There is now another group, in Israel, which is being specifically targeted
by another boycott campaign. Lesbians, gays, bi- and transsexuals from
everywhere are being asked not to travel to the Jerusalem Pride in August
2006. The event, initially planned for this summer, has been rescheduled to
next year because of Sharon’s decision to postpone the launch date of the
Gaza pullout to August 16.
Jerusalem Open House’s chair Noa Sattath explained: “Tolerance, pluralism
and equality are WorldPride’s guiding principles. Holding WorldPride during
the Gaza pullout would do injustice to those values. We have taken this
decision out of consideration to the most difficult political climate
expected in Israel this August. As a community we are deeply engaged in the
complex reality surrounding us.”
Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a Gay Pride could
possibly take place. There would certainly be no Gay Pride in the PA. The
reason for this is that Hamas is blatantly, violently homophobic, and that
homophobia spreads like a disease to the PA and the Palestinian solidarity
movements abroad.
Holding the Gay Pride in Jerusalem was never popular with some religious
folks of Jewish, Christian or Muslim faiths, who felt that it would somehow
desecrate the Holy City. Abdel aziz bukhari, a sufi sheikh, said “we can’t
permit anybody to come and make the Holy City dirty. This is very ugly and
nasty to have these people come to Jerusalem”. The Jerusalem Prayer Team, a
Christian group that asks members to pray for and encourage the people of
Israel, has called the planned World Pride event a moral abomination and is
seeking 1 million signatures on a petition to ask the Jerusalem mayor and
the city’s municipality to cancel the event. And this is what the mayor of
Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, has to say about it: “This is a horrible
parade. It is not only ugly; it’s also a provocation. It’s not appropriate
for the city, and it offends the sensibilities of its residents. Even
people distant from Jerusalem must grasp that this is a sacred city for the
Jewish people and the world as a whole”. These are the ramblings of a bunch
of old homophobes, but people who are eager to defend Palestinian rights
should, this time again, think clearly before they associate themselves
with this boycott campaign. Those who want to boycott the event will find
themselves in the company of the religious extremists of all faiths, the
settlers and the Hamas.
Israeli homosexuals are being targeted in their own country for being
queer: the religious right in Israel is also homophobic. The left-wing
groups who fight for gay rights are the same groups who struggle for peace
and for Palestinian rights. They need our support; they certainly do not
deserve to be isolated further than they already are.
Peter Tatchell reports, on his website, that “Gay Palestinians are being
beaten, tortured and murdered by factions of the PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad
and the Palestinian Authority”. He adds “The Palestinian administration
tolerates the so-called ‘honour’ killing of women who refuse to submit to
the strict rules of orthodox Islam.” Not a word on this from the
Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC). Read the report, on the OutRage!
Website, on the Free Palestine rally in Trafalgar Square (21 May 2005). He
says “PSC stewards refused to take our leaflets or to discuss the issues we
were raising. A small number of protestors half-heartedly tried to block
our placards with their placards. Apart from a couple of jeers
of ‘faggots’, most other protestors eagerly took our leaflets and several
expressed overt support for the rights of Palestinian women and gay people.
“Some protesters said raising gay and women’s rights at a Free Palestine
protest was ‘inappropriate’. For these people there is never an appropriate
time to press for the rights of women and gays. Our rights are never a
priority. We are always expendable for the sake of the bigger, wider cause.”
This campaign against groups that are already isolated must stop.
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