General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Queers for Palestine?". Maher mentioned them in his "New Rules" in search of sanity
What? was my first reaction. Gays are frowned upon even persecuted in Muslim cultures. When the secular president of Iran visited here some 15 years ago and appeared in front students and was asked about gays in Iran, he replied that there were no gays in Iran and the students just laughed.
So I went searching and found an interesting essay in a site called Queer Majority.
Queers for Palestine and the Death of Irony by Armin Navabi
(snip)
On the surface, Queers for Palestine attempts to meld LGBT advocacy with Palestinian liberation, a juxtaposition that has precipitated a whirlpool of ridicule and criticism due to the fact that LGBT rights scarcely exist within the Muslim world, and the Palestinian territories are no exception. The slogan has been widely satirized with variations like Chickens for KFC or Blacks for the KKK, which highlight the basic lack of awareness of just how incompatible the values of the Western left are with the Islamic right they so readily champion.
The reality of the situation could not be more stark. Though it has much room to improve, Israel is at the forefront of LGBT rights in the Middle East. In Israel, LGBT people are visible members of society with legal protections, civil rights, and a plurality of public acceptance.
Palestine, by contrast, is quite a different story. The UCLA Williams Institutes 2021 global report on LGBT acceptance rated Israel 44th out of the 175 countries/territories examined. Palestine came in at 130, behind Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Georgetown University likewise placed Palestine 160th out of 170 countries on their womens peace and security index, in good company with most of the region. Amnesty Internationals 2020 report on human rights highlights the criminalization of male same-sex relationships in Gaza, punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment, with a conspicuous absence of legal protections against anti-LGBT discrimination or harassment. This lack of civil rights has led hundreds of gay and bi Palestinians to flee to Israel to escape persecution. One such refugee, Ahmad Abu Marhia, a 25-year-old gay Palestinian man, was living under asylum in Israel. In 2022, he was kidnapped and beheaded in the West Bank city of Hebron. His murderers uploaded footage of the killing to social media.
(snip)
Another disconcerting element of Queers for Palestine is that it popped up in prominent left-wing anti-Israel/pro-Palestine rallies in the immediate aftermath of Hamass terrorist attacks, before Israel had the chance to respond. As such, there is no way to interpret this slogan and the surrounding leftist fervor except as a signal of support not merely for Palestine, but specifically for Hamas, the jihadist movement with the explicit aim of eradicating the state of Israel. It's imperative to understand that Hamas, as detailed in its 1988 Covenant, is propelled by a fundamentalist Islamist ideology with the goal not only of eliminating all Jews but also conquering the world just like ISIS. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar was recorded saying, The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors.
More..
https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/queers-for-palestine-and-the-death-of-irony
Rhiannon12866
(205,731 posts)Justice matters.
(6,939 posts)Proof that there also are 'ignorant' queers (and I'm not saying all of them here).
Stupidity is too widely spread all over, but it's not a majority in all the diverse orientations.
MutantAndProud
(742 posts)Unfortunately
I have a feeling some might just get hooked by the support the underdog appeal, and get cemented in by the pushback they may or may not anticipate
Justice matters.
(6,939 posts)Or there's a possibility the guys in that picture might not be queers but a bunch of bigots 'against' queers who are just wanting to make queers 'look' bad (or stupidly ignorant)?
With things like 'private' facebook 'groups' these days, it's not impossible they 'could' be a group of malignant plotters, so if that was the case, of course I would have judged too early in my instant reply above. It's too hard to really know what' is what or who is really who these days.
MutantAndProud
(742 posts)It extends beyond FB. Actually, I would go so far as to say there are active presences for a variety of purposes across the gay app world. If your identity and address are known they are essentially burned if you dont know who youre connected with in a hostile area.
ExciteBike66
(2,365 posts)You think these queers are stupid because they oppose the killing of children with bombs?
question everything
(47,511 posts)JI7
(89,259 posts)Just a lot of hatred of feminists . And all these "where are the feminists" type things.
But most lgbtq don't take this side . The ones that do just stand out more but they are small in number compared to the larger gay population.
Response to JI7 (Reply #4)
question everything This message was self-deleted by its author.
Bucky
(54,039 posts)In Bill Maher's world, and you should be happy when people who live in a country where most people hate you get killed.
Justice matters.
(6,939 posts)Like they care about their own people's children right?
Not to mention the children they slaughtered or abducted on October 7.
THAT is disgusting too.
kelly1mm
(4,734 posts)ExciteBike66
(2,365 posts)I mean, the Russian government is anti- gay, and yet we all think that Russia should exist.
Do you think Muslim kids should be killed because their parents might be bigots?
Once the killing is done, we can all go back to criticizing Palestine for being anti gay.
maxrandb
(15,345 posts)Could be the Retrumplican Party ranks below 130 for acceptance/tolerance of the LGBTQ community.
Of course, the real threat to humanity is some obscure LGBTQ group that no one has ever heard of, NOT one of the most powerful political parties in the most powerful country, right?