Let the Great Israeli Pinkwashing Debate rage on: The Alumni Community of Birthright Israel is erecting a giant mural next week in the West Village, heralding the Promised Land’s progressiveness on LGBT rights as compared to the intolerance of the rest of the Middle East.
The release describes the project more:
“A massive outdoor mural in Manhattan’s West Village depicts two men holding hands while looking at scales that weigh the gay rights enjoyed in Israel versus the homosexual persecution in other Middle Eastern countries, including the Palestinian territories and Iran. bove the artwork is the question, “Who would you want at your wedding?”…
The mural shows on one scale facts about Israel’s neighbors: “In Iran homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. There is no Pride Parade in Egypt, Jordan or Gaza. Homosexuality is illegal in Syria.”
On the other scale are facts about Israel: “Same sex couples can legally adopt children. Gay people serve openly in the military and government. More than 10,000 people celebrated at Tel Aviv’s Pride Parade in 2011.”
Um, ham-handed much?
Birthright Israel has brought thousands of young American Jews to Israel, free-of-charge, to reconnect with their spiritual and cultural roots. Critics argue the mural is just another example of Israel’s current campaign to obscure Israel’s treatment of Palestinians by touting its pro-gay record.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Alumni Community of Birthright Israel director Rebecca Sugar disagrees, saying she hopes “everyone who believes in decency and freedom, including those in the gay community, will look at this mural and know that Israeli society best reflects the values that we cherish here in New York.”
Artist Chris St. John will complete the mural, located at 111 Leroy Street between Greenwich and Hudson Streets, in time for Israel Independence Day on May 14. Organizers say it will remain “until defaced.”
Wow, they’re practically begging people to vandalize it. Maybe Banksy could do something brilliant with this one.
Daniel
I’m sorry, I don’t understand Queerty’s criticism. What part of this monument is untrue?
James
@Daniel: The criticism is not about whether it’s true or not, but rather whether it’s completely pointless and in poor taste. Since when is “we are better than you” an appropriate subject for art?
Good grief
Well, Israeli authorities arrest and deport Palestinian gays who flee to Israel, denying their right to asylum. Palestinians, including gay Palestinians, live in horrible conditions in the territories and Gaza because of Israeli oppression.
Daniel
@James – you could just as easily argue that the Statue of Liberty is not art as it implies people are coming to the US to escape religious persecution abroad. This is celebrating a safe haven for LGBT individuals in Israel versus the surrounding region.
Reed Braden
@James: “Since when is “we are better than you” an appropriate subject for art?” Since when is anything off limits for art? The phrase “an appropriate subject for art” reeks of censorship.
QJ201
*Not applicable to Gay Palestinians
Uncle Mo
@Good grief:
Really?
And yet Palestinians have higher literacy rates than non-occupied Syrians or Egyptians immediately across the border, enjoy a longer life expectancy, have better access to higher education, health, etc. Check the UN Human development index for further detail. Palestinians are 27 places ahead of Moroccans for example.
These are the facts: there was a time when Palestinians freely crossed into Israel for work, paid taxes to Israeli social security and received benefits in kind. That ended when they decided they could extract more concessions through violence. It isn’t that Israel doesn’t take advantage of the impasse to improve its position, of course it does. But then, there is an impasse in the first place because the Palestinians imposed it.
Political Islam is the problem, not Israel. Which is why Pakistanis blow each other up in suicide attacks, Iraquis blow each other up in suicide attacks, Afghans blow each other up in suicide attacks. Are they under Israeli occupation too?
Uncle Mo
@QJ201:
Another one that mouths off unencumbered by facts.
FYI, there is a Palestinian Queer Party. It has monthly meetings… in Tel-Aviv.
Sam
Here is the problem with the mural. It is primarily meant to forward Isreali PR/propoganda interests instead of gay rights in Isreal or Palestine any meaningful way.
Isreal is by no means a mecca of gay rights it propogandist would like us to believe it is. Comparing it to Palestine is moot becuase the Palestine state is yet to be formed, thanks to Isreali actions!!!!!!!. All people in the world deserve dignity and the right to form a nation. Palestine is no exception.
Contary to popular Western myths, not all Muslim nations have historically or are in moder times anti gay. The Mughal empire in India, as well as the Sadaam Hussein Regime of Iraq in modern times are examples where gay people lived freely and were well protected.
Just as Isreal has a right to exit, so does Palestine to form itself into an independent nation and live its destiny.
Uncle Mo
@Sam:
Wow… did I just read in one post that Israel “is not a Mecca of gay rights”, but that Saddam’s Iraq was a place full of protections?
Spare me the bullshit. Israel is on par with New York and San Francisco when it comes to general acceptance and attitudes towards gays, and so far ahead of places like Alabama or Utah that it makes me want to weep. And gays in Saddam’s Iraq were barely tolerated as in swept under the rug. Only a good situation compared to where they stand now.
Clockwork
I must of missed the gay pride parade in Baghdad back in the 80’s and 90’s.
By the definition of law, whoever vandalizes that mural is committing a hate crime.
So use some common sense; New York prosecutors will not take it lightly.
Sam
@Uncle Mo
Uncle Sam,
Please get your facts right. Obviously Uncle Sam has been feeding you this crap and the bullshit of your government was proved in the UN when NO weapans of mass destruction were found in Iraq.
Trust your government to go into a place, under the pretext of peace, classic pinkwashing tactic and then create a war so that sick people like you can make money off arms.
And yes , the gays under Sadaam Hussein were never subject to the kind of harassment and brutality they have started to suffer due to the American influence in the area.
By the way, what is with you people. Wherever you go you spread your heritage of hate: wether it be Africa, where american missionaires have been drumming up hate against homosexuals and telling africans that they can be in your governments good books and get aid money if they do such things or in Iraq where you people think you can create havoc in the lives of homosexuals.
Your are full of hate towards a people who are being penalized for no fault of theirs, their lands being taken away and their right to statehood being consistently denied to them.
Isreal has a definate right to exist but not at the expense of the Palestenian State.
Matt
Israelis are actually very homophobic/biphobic, and transphobic. Israel itself is actually very conservative as a country and not LGBT friendly. Israelis as a whole are also highly ra cist towards their own Semetic people or the Palestinian people.
Uncle Mo
@Sam:
Right, so you have to respond in the vaguest generalizations because when it comes down to it, you know mighty little about a place you’ve never been to. Politely – you are rambling about things you don’t know.
Hyhybt
Is it possible to have a conversation involving Israel that *doesn’t* include painting either side of that country’s quarrels with its neighbors as either angels or devils?
Chris
It is just such an odd thing to advertise. Israel is better at gay rights than these other countries. Therefore… What? I should want to travel there? I don’t see the connection.
I’ve heard too many right-wingers use this line of thought who don’t give a damn about gay Palestinians. We should support them and any refugees, not take this as a rationalisation for war or demonisation.
EvonCook
@Uncle Mo: And Jews all just love one another? lol Something is very smelly about this self congratulatory self promotion. And there is no denying the apartheid that Israel keeps enforcing.
Andrew
Enough already with this “Pinkwashing” Sh*t.
I do not agree with ALL of Israel’s policies regarding the Palestinians, but let’s be realistic.
Israel is GLBT friendly as a nation precisely BECAUSE it is a nation founded to provide a home for a persecuted people.
The Palestinians, through through their leadership have done everything possible to undermine and destroy the State of Israel since its inception.
Historic notes that are readily forgotten:
In the 1990’s Israel offered Arafat EVERYTHING HE WANTED as part of negotiations – this included removing settlements, releasing ALL “political” prisoners. Arafat REFUSED the offer.
In ALL the wars Israel has been forced to fight with its neighbors, Israel was on the defensive.
When the Palestinians fled from areas taken to ensure secure borders for Israel in 1967, neither Jordan, nor Syria, nor Egypt accepted them as refugees or, in those cases where some were accepted into the country, NO PROVISIONS WERE MADE TO PROVIDE THEM WITH A DECENT STANDARD OF LIVING. It was these same countries that ATTACKED ISRAEL.
In 1929, the Arabic residents of Hebron not only massacred Jews, but they desecrated Jewish graveyards, using headstones to create sidewalks and other constructions.
Carlos
Israels and Jewish people are actually highly homophobic and NOT supportive of LGBT people even if many pretend to be or will claim they are but are really not at all.
Sam
Just as there is a differenc between white supermacist and the United State of America there is a huge difference between the state of Isreal as it was formed in the 1950s and Zionists ( who are sadly the Jewish version of white superemacists)
Isreal was founded by the International Community through the United Nations and not by some act of Zion as the Zionist would have you believe. Many of them want to anihiliate Palestine and create some form of sick Zionist theocracy simialr to the Iran which has a muslim version. Since Isreal was founded by the international community she must respect international law and promote peace.
Only with the state of Palestine will there come peace in the Holy Lands. Shalom and God speed
Sam
@Carlos:
Thank you for this note of reality!
Indeed, like most religion obssessed societies, Isreal tends to be homophobic and actually any society that promotes hatred and war towards its neighbours cannot be gay friendly. The very nature of gayness is to bring Peace and the current Zionist regime of Isreal is doing everything to make Peace possible.
Uncle Mo
@EvonCook:
Again, bull.
There is no Apartheid in Israel. There is not a single right given to Jewish citizens that is not granted to all other citizens.
Israel is so NOT an Apartheid state that barely a few months ago the Chief Justice of the Israel Supreme Court – AN ARAB – threw a Jewish President in jail for sexually assaulting a staffer. Care to name any black Supreme Court Justices in Apartheid South Africa? In fact, the piece of work that leads the BDS campaign pushing this Apartheid nonsense, an Arab from theb West Bank, is a Ph.D candidate at Tel-Aviv University. Where’s the Apartheid then?
This is the kicker – Arab states have Apartheid laws and never get called out by the antisemites that can’t let go of their Israel-bashing hobby. Jordan not only has an atrocious record on LGBT rights, it also bans property rights for Jews. The PNA can impose the death penalty for selling land to Jews.
Palestinians and their backers love to obfuscate with this Apartheid business. What they REALLY mean is that they think Israel should have open borders and let Palestinians from the territories move freely about. So I ask you… is the United States an Apartheid country because we didn’t grant occupied Iraquis the right to move freely in and out of the United States? Are we an Apartheid State because we don’t let occupied Afghanis vote in our elections?
Joe
@Carlos: You’re full of shit.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/36810/three_in_five_israelis_back_same_sex_marriage/
Joe
@Sam: The very nature of gayness is to bring Peace? What are you smoking?
And any society that promotes hatred and war towards its neighbours cannot be gay friendly? I guess that explains all the hate and homophobia in Palestine.
Charles The Great
@Joe: They forgot how they have to hide their gayness when they travel to the West Bank. Many Anti Israel LGBTs are told to do this when they go there. I wonder why?
Charles The Great
The problem with many Anti Israel LGBT organizations they only like freedom of speech when it applies to them look what they did in Seattle
http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/seattle-university-assistant-law-professor-attempts-to-silence-visiting-israeli-lgbt-voices/
but if this happened to them they would scream bloody murder
Charles The Great
@Sam: So why could Jordan and Egypt establish a Palestinian State before 1967 when Gaza was under the control of Egypt and the West Bank was apart of Jordan?
Sam
@Joe:
if three in five Isrealis are for gay marraige, then why don’t they have gay marriage like Canada or othe Western states????
Charles The Great
@Sam: and the United States still does not have it, the United Kingdom does not have it,Turkey does not recognise same-sex marriages and it is considered a western nation and so does Australia and they are western nations that do not have gay marriage. What is your point Sam?
Sam
@Joe:
Just sucking on my bf’s dick; no smoking. and its non white btw, if that is okay with you?
Trying to fight for ones right including statehood is not hatred, sicko! its call survial and Pride
Joe
@Sam: They kill gay people because of survival and pride?
Charles The Great
@Sam: Also in Turkey which is considered a western nation LGBT’s can face legal problems as a result of who they are, Gays and lesbians banned from military service, they even do not have anti discrimination laws. In Northern Cyprus under Turkish Military occupation and illegal occupation under international law LGBT’s are arrested for even having sex
as seen here:http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/10/19/three-northern-cyprus-men-arrested-for-gay-sex/
and This country is considered a western nation
Charles The Great
@Sam: Sam many Israelis are not even white it is clear there is very little you seem to even know. Also there are no laws in Israel that separates people by either race, religion or ethic background. Why do you lie?
Sam
@Charles The Great:
The point is no one in his right mind would claim that Isreal is a supporter of gay rights.
I feel sad for Isreal and more so for the Palestinian people because of the violence there. I hope they stop fighting and a palestinian state is set up so that everyone can get on with their lives. But to start singing praises of Isreal as an lbtq haven, because it is prescribed by the Isreali propoganda machine and to pour this garbage down our throats in gay space is just ludicrious.
Perhaps it is becuase of rightwingers like you that the US and UK still don’t have gay marriage on the books.
Sam
@Joe:
homophobic incidents occur in all parts of the world. Many other parts of the world have far greater rates of crimes against gay people.
With a new Palestenian state, I am sure gay people will find more security and peace, unless the americans decide to come in and start their evil influence.
Joe
@Sam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Israel
Yeah, it’s a real haven of hatred over there.
Sam
@Charles The Great:
I live in a so called Western state which actually has gay marriage on its books yet I am scared to show on the streets that I am gay, like walk hand in hand with my bf.
In a recent gay book club, most in the city seemed to agree.
Charles The Great
@Sam: How I’m I am a rightwinger? Sam? Do not like the truth? Also I live in Canada. I bet you do not even know South Africa copied by country’s Indian Act to create Apartheid there? Many of the racist elements that South Africa used such as blackhomeland and Status came from that act. Oddly still in place. Also why do Queer Palestinian Organizations have to operate in Haifa or Tel Aviv and not Gaza or in the West Bank.
Why is this always left out?
Joe
@Sam:
“homophobic incidents occur in all parts of the world. Many other parts of the world have far greater rates of crimes against gay people.”
And you know this how? Did someone do a study where they compared the rates of crimes against gay people in Palestine versus other places?
“With a new Palestenian state, I am sure gay people will find more security and peace, unless the americans decide to come in and start their evil influence.”
Right, that explains why homosexuality is so accepted everywhere else in the Middle East.
Sam
@Charles The Great:
Charles this is nothing to do with race, white or otherwise.
All religious fanatics, white black or brown tend to be homophobic, for the most part. Isreal is no exception.
Many Palestinians consider themselves aryan and white. Many Jews have historically had white consciousness, ie consider themselves white, even if white people did not quite think of them that way. Racisim towards darker skinned Jews is a reality in Isreal
My point simply is that this is not about whiteness but simply right wing politics. Isreal at the moment is run by right wing fantatics. Defending it is defending the actions and philosophy of a homophobic right wing government.
Charles The Great
@Sam: Also nice try and flagging my comments as Spam
Sam
@Joe:
Just because you hate brown skinned people, doesnt mean they are all bad.
Every society grows. The US until recently was filled with racial hatred. CHnage is possible. Even in middle eastern socities.
Charles The Great
@Sam: And all over the world that is a big problem not just in Israel. Racism is a really big problem in Europe. The current government in Israel changed in the last few days.
Sam
@Charles The Great:
I am honestly sorry about that. I must have ended up doing it while trying to hit the reply button.
I remember getting a message, Do you really want to do that and try again; and I assumed that it wasnt done.
A Sincere Apology for that.
Joe
@Sam: You really are an idiot. Where in my post did I mention race at all? Or do you think saying that homosexuality isn’t accepted in most of the Middle East is racist?
Charles The Great
@Sam: Also how is the current government Lukid/Kadima coalition government right wing? Kadima is a centralist party not right wing?
Sam
I agree
and while refusing to buy into the propganda of the Isreali government I am not unmindful of the Violence in the region or the real hatred of many Islamicists.
My hope in a Palestenian state is simply to give some sense of direction to the middle east problem and put and end to the violence
Joe
@Sam:
Yeah right, you flagged me too.
Charles The Great
@Joe: Sam seem to not like freedom of Speech
Sam
I think around the world, ( Canada, India and Isreal)
right wingers have taken charge and changed the boundaries of politics including the meaning of centrist.
What was earlier considered right wing is now centerist and what was considered ultra right wing is now right wing. I see this phenomena in canada, with the present conservative government who ironically is a huge supporter of Isreal.
If it is such a centerist government, why do we not have the Palestenian State yet.
Sam
@Joe:
This is uncalled for. i know it happened once, but not sure who but please stop making up things… or wait it must the Isreal tactic
Charles The Great
@Sam: Why has the Palestinians walked away from Camp David in 2000? They could of had a state. Also it is clear by saying anyone who has a different opinion is a ‘rightwinger’ then why would they read Queety?
Joe
@Sam:
Is that why my other post has a message stating it’s awaiting moderation because it was flagged?
Also, it’s nice that you can’t come up with a decent response to my arguments about gay rights in Israel versus the rest of the Middle East so you have to accuse me of racism instead.
Charles The Great
@Sam: Also when it comes to any Canadian government including Liberal governments they were also pro Israel and so are all the Political Parties even the NDP who their new Leader is overwhelming pro Israel. Also do you know the difference between right and left? They are different in every country. In Russia Conservatives are Communist
Charles The Great
@Joe: They say racism, it is a common tactic of the far left when they can not make a argument
Sam
@Joe:
Where did race come into the picture. You were the one who brought up the fact about white or not white, which i said is irrelevant.
Why is race such a huge issue for gay white men?
Joe
@Sam:
You brought up race when you said “Just because you hate brown skinned people, doesnt mean they are all bad.”
Show me the post where I mentioned race at all, because you’re full of sh*t.
Truth is not White.
@Joe:
A mouth as filthy as the cause your represent.
Joe
@Truth is not White.: sorry, sometimes grownups like to swear.
Rooney
I’ve learned to my dismay that many socalled activists on the left – and I’m so far on the left paranoid wingnuts in government probably have a file on me – use their stance on the I/P issue, and there is an issue, and most moderate Israelis admit there is, as an excuse to shout slogans like “Hitler was right!” So I’m very wary of anyone slamming the awful truth that yes, the rest of the middle east is a lot more homophobic than Israel.
Syl
Whatever can be said about Israel and it’s record on human rights, it is head and shoulders above any other Middle-Eastern nation in the arena of rights. That is not to equivocate or minimize Israel’s shortcomings, but no nation is perfect, and it is not fair to compare the one democracy with independent courts in the region to nations which have the death penalty for merely seeming gay.
DragonTat2
@Uncle Mo: Extract more conditions? Like, say, stop stealing Palestinian land? Stop destroying water resources and burning olive groves?
There is quite a difference between mindless attacks and protecting a home and community.
http://lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com/photos/maps/landloss.html
HM
I’ve spent my whole life learning to keep a wary eye out for those who say I’m a sinner because ‘God says so’.
Now I’m supposed to give a high five to a country that helps itself to land it says it owns because ‘God says so.’
Israel is here to stay, I get that and support it. And congrats to those enlightened American and European expats who have introduced progressive policies here and there. But the settlers and religious kooks are only a few notches away from the Islamic kooks on the batshit crazy scale. On their streets, in their neighborhoods…..I would be a sinner once more.
And by the looks of it, they run Israel.
MoJo
Fuck Israel!
Also- WTF Can’t I comment on the Adam Lambert post?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Joe
@HM: You probably wouldn’t want to walk through Palestine then.
NBV
The author of this article clearly has a very biased view on the situation in the middle east by somehow going from Israel’s notorious gay friendly vibe to the palestinian ‘opression’ which is bullshit in itself. Get your facts right before publicly humiliating yourself with this drivel.
Ron
Calm down folks. Israel is no longer a true democracy.
Following the recent political upheaval, we now have a coalition government composed of 94 out of the 120 seats of parliament.
You can now treat us in the news like you treat the other non democracies in the world.
NBV
@Ron: Israel is the most progressive of all of the middle east. For you to compare it to non democracies is not only wrong, it’s laughable and beyond ignorant.
Hyhybt
@NBV: Admittedly, “most progressive in the Middle East” isn’t saying much.
Charles The Great
@Ron: Ron so do most European Governments use coalitions governments as a base for their system of government. Also they are elected officials by the people.
Uncle Mo
@Hyhybt:
Again – get real. Israel is a welfare state, more in line with what you see in Europe than what you see here in America. Single payer health care, free or nearly free public education at all levels, generous state-managed pension system. About 5% of the population lives in communes. And support for LGBT rights is broader than it is in the US. It isn’t a question of Israel being the most progressive state in the Middle East (it is)… Israel is far more progressive than we are here in America.
Timothy Jaye
@Good grief: Asylum is not a right.
Vicky
Israel is a paradise for Gays :-)….love Israel
—–
Vicky, India
Spike
Orthodox Jews are about as friendly toward gays as the Mormons. The only reason Israel appears friendly to gays is because they don’t discriminate when it comes to their required military service and they need as many bodies to move into their illegal settlements as they can get.
When the rest of the world stops feeling guilty about WWII, they will finally realize how Israel has played as fools, BIG TIME.
kuy
What i want to know is, is there a non-LGBT agenda behind comparing gay rights between Israel and Muslim countries?
Joe
@Spike: Why don’t you actually think before spouting off nonsense? They’ve done a lot more than just allowing gays to serve in the military.
NBV
@Spike: You and the author of this post have absolutely zero idea what you are talking about. Get your facts right, read a news source that isn’t biased (albeit pretty impossible) and then make an informed statement.
NBV
@Hyhybt: Quite the opposite. The middle east (other than Israel) is living in the dark ages with honor killings, brutal attacks against minorities, death penalties for being gay, not to mention women aren’t even allowed to vote. Israel is a beacon of hope for democracy in the otherwise deplorable conditions of arab countries. When people finally see that and get rid of their tunnel vision towards Israel, progress can be made.
NBV
@Sam: hahahha it amazes me how you think that the propaganda is on the side of Israel. The propaganda is by Muslim countries that seek to destroy Israel for no reason. Israel is at the forefront of technology, medicine, and environmentally friendly products….let’s see…iran kills homosexuals by hanging, saudi arabia has honour killings for women who refuse to marry, yemen is home to one of al quaedas biggest branches, and they were ones who continue to attack the world for no reason. Palestinians elected a known terrorist group to their government who’s soul mission is to destroy Israel. What are you an idiot?
Hyhybt
@NBV: I said nothing against any of that. All I said was that it doesn’t take much to be best in that region.
As for how good they really are… it’s hard to tell. I hear a lot of people saying essentially what you do, and a lot of people saying it’s not like that at all. It’s hard to find out the truth; reading about their laws and such is one thing, but implementation makes a bigger difference in practice, and too many people are too strongly for or against Israel to fully trust anyone’s description.
Sansacro
@Sam:
Ah yes, America–evil, evil, evil-the rest of the non-Western world-innocent. The old Garden of Eden myth transposed yet again.
Why don’t you back up your statements with stats? I am all for Palestinian rights and recognition. But, frankly, the human rights abuses elsewhere (against GBLT and women and marginalized faiths), throughout the middle east, and elsewhere globally, are profoundly grave. The situation is way more complex than your own reductive analysis of the bad, bad West, and victimized non West. This is an age-old human dynamic that needs to be acknowledged and addressed. Power abuse will never be “cured” but it must be vigilantly attended to, until the end of time. Israel and the U.S. need to be held accountable, but not at the expense of severe human rights abuses elsewhere.
SaM
@Rooney:
I really doubt if any lefist would support Hitler.
While many feel frustrated and dissapointed with the current right wing regime of Isreal especially becuase it has adopted Hitler’s philosophy and tactics; Israel in its inception was not only a creation of the international community but also was a deeply communist state with the Left being the dominant party in Isreali political life and social policy.
The idea that Isreal is “most progressive” in the Middle East is misleading; As Spike pointed out, Orthodox Jews who have a huge influence in the government, are as gay friendly as Mormons.
Isreal has a right to exist and even thrive, but not at the expense of Palestine.
SaM
@Sansacro:
I am glad that you are acknowledging the right of the Palestinians and their and their human rights.
and i totally agree that the issues you raise of women, marganilized faiths and GLBTQ people in the Middle East and around the world are equally important issues.
The Palestenian State is just the begining of that quest for justice.
Recognition of rights is not going to be easy. Give your own record, in the southern states of the US and nationally , you probably do know this. However I am sure it will happen once the prelimaries of the Palestenian state are set into place.
SaM
@NBV:
The Palestenian leader is not more a terrorist than Dr. Martin Luther King who was called a terrorist by the then american government.
Saudi arabia and many parts of the Middle East have appaling human right records. I never disputed that. However the Palestenian state is a seperate issue. Two wrongs dont make a right. How can Isreal be a model or becon of human rights in the region , if it carries out colonial oppression.
While there are anti Isreal haters, the Isreali government has NO buisness stealing land and settling people in there, which doesnt belong to it. The only land that belongs to it is the one given to it by the international community, as a sign of peace and goodwill.
Since the Isreali govenment owes its very existence to the international community, the least it could do in return is respect international law!
Charles-the-Great
@SaM: Sam no government other the National Socialist Germany has never used Hitler’s tactics ever. Also comparing ‘rightwing’ or any government with the Nazi’s is BS. Also as for: “As Spike pointed out, Orthodox Jews who have a huge influence in the government, are as gay friendly as Mormons” so what do Jews as a religion and as a people have to do with Israel the country? Israel has over 20% of it population who are not even Jewish and they are all equals under Israeli Law. Also the Anti Israel crowed does not want Israel to exist since they want the one state solution since they argue Palestinian and Israelis are Semitic in language group and they want to create another Yugoslavia a country who population came from the same language group and force a solution that neither side even wants.
Also as some have said there is racism in Israel and what is the point of even using that? Every country in the world have the same problem and every country does have a minority who are considered the ‘other’.
Norman Finkelstein in a interview called “Arguing the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign” and talks about the tactics of the Anti Israel crowed and he even admits BDS is a failure since they will not recognized Israel as a Jewish Nation and not even recognize the two state solution or even accepting Israel has a Jewish Country and calling for Isareli’s to accept national suicide for peace since you will not even find any Israelis calling for the end. The interview: (https://vimeo.com/36854424)
Also Palestinians are not even welcome in Arab Nations anyway. Many can not have jobs, and not buy houses, can not rent, can not get a education, can not get health care in Lebanon, UAE, Syria, Jordan, or any Arab country because in those nations they are second class period!!!
Also Blaming Jews as a religion and as a collective for the actions of Israel or comparing them to the Nazis is Anti Antisemitism and this is seen in:
Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective – such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by nonJews.
Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
Denying the Jewish people their right to selfdetermination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”
Source:(http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsit…..-draft.pdf)
This definition is used by the European Union, Canada, and the United States and most of what is in this definition is all done by Anti Israel activists all the time. Also stop flagging as SPAM I guess someone does not like freedom of speech or even the truth
NBV
@SaM: Israel owes its existence to its army. Israel fought 4 arab countries in the war of independence and WON. As far as oppressing….that is a plain out lie. Israel does not oppress palestinians. They get more aid from Israel than anywhere else in the world and Israel supplies them with WATER. Good luck living without that.
Hamas, the elected officials in gaza is not anything like Dr. Martin Luther King….Hamas is a recognized terrorist group by the U.N. (The U.N. is fucking JOKE btw) and its charter demands the destruction of Israel. Once again, you have ZERO idea what you’re talking about. Read!!
Mary
“The Alumni Community of Birthright Israel is erecting a giant mural, heralding the Promised Land’s progressiveness on LGBT rights as compared to the intolerance of the rest of the Middle East.”
This mural is a disgusting piece of pinkwashing: bashing other countries while praising the own country and completely ignoring the own country’s human rights violations. Israel shoots itself in the foot with such propaganda, because liberal Jews and non-Jews don’t fall for it anymore. The more Israel(‘s right-wing government) tries to distract from its human rights violations, the more suspicious people become and the closer people look at Israel’s activities. Israel’s gay-friendliness doesn’t excuse or counterbalance other injustice. A country must treat ALL people properly and not just SOME of them.
“Organizers say it will remain ‘until defaced’. Wow, they’re practically begging people to vandalize it.”
The right-wing Zionists KNOW that this mural with its “Our country is great and others suck.” message is a total provocation. Of course, they WANT the mural to be defaced, because then they can cry “victim” and garner sympathy as well as support for their cause. That’s the intention behind this deliberate provocation.
Please read the following articles on Mondoweiss:
“The Israeli consul is selling ‘brand Israel’, but very few in one upper west side synagogue are buying”
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/the-israeli-consul-is-selling-brand-israel-but-very-few-in-one-upper-west-side-synagogue-are-buying.html
“Why I Am Not a Liberal Zionist”
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/why-i-am-not-a-liberal-zionist-a-response-to-liberal-zionists-speak-out.html
SSGestapo
Be advised sissies…..the glorius military machine of the great Jewish state of Israel is infected with a small but curable virus…..there are lillie pickers in the ranks…..the best course of action is to remove all tinkerbelles from serving in combat arms at least…if that can’t be done then put them on perpetual latrine duty so they can be near the urinals…..the glorius US military is now infected with these apes in distress gay a-s holes and a process to control these jumping idiots must be implemented immediately
Sam
@NBV: @Uncle Mo:
Proving our point that justice towards arabs ( for e.g. as a isreali arab he was made the chief justice) is for the betterment of society as a whole ; the fact that Isreali society worked through its own prejudice about having an arab chief justice bore fruit:He did justice and put a rouge President behind bars.
The Apartheid is in the denial of the right of statehood to the Palestenian People, even though the UN CHarter clears allows and asks for it.
It is time Isreal society do something right again and allow for a Palestenian State which will bring peace to the region.
Joe
@Sam: You’re dreaming if you think Palestine’s statehood is the only thing standing in the way of peace of the Middle East.
RayneVanDunem
@Sam: Actually, they did suffer under violence committed by government officers, even in the absence of “de jure” legal criminalization:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Iraq#Criminal_code:_Ba.27athist
“The criminal code of 1969 (as amended) was silent on the subject of homosexual relations between consenting, non-commercial, non-fraternal, adults in private. This status appears to have continued in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, though no support groups or human rights organizations for LGBT people existed and gay and bisexual men were often harassed, murdered or blackmailed into becoming spies for the regime because of both the prevailing anti-gay social prejudice as well as vague laws dealing with public morality and national security [4]. In the summer of 1993 compulsory religious education was introduced into Iraqi schools. Nightclubs accused of harboring prostitutes were closed and the constitution was amended to include the death penalty for homosexuality.[5]
In the United Nations, the Iraqi delegation cited religion at the time as their reasoning for opposing efforts to have the international body support gay rights, once again shattering the widely held view of Saddam as a secularist. [6]
Laws were enacted reducing (or even eliminating) the penalties for the practice known as “honor killings” in the period between the early 1990s and 2003, and thus an Iraqi could face being murdered by their kin with relative impunity for bringing dishonor to their family. In practice many such incidents did not result in criminal proceedings being brought against the alleged perpetrator. The two major targets of honor killings were women, deemed to be immoral, as well as LGBT people by the Fedayeen Saddam also acting as a sort of Mutaween (religious police) with the public decapitation of 200 prostitutes in October 2000 and stonings and throwing from buildings (the sharia punishments) people for sodomy. [7] [8]
In 2001, the IRCC Resolution 234 of 2001 was enacted that established the death penalty for adultery, being involved with prostitution, and anyone who, “Commits the crime of sodomy with a male or female or who violates the honor of a male or female without his or her consent and under the threat of arm or by force in a way that the life of the victim (male or female) is threatened” [1]
While this law has been cited, by some international groups, as a ban on homosexuality, this Resolution would seem to only prohibit homosexual or heterosexual sodomy that did not involve consent or that did involve adultery or prostitution.”
CITATIONS:
[4]: http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_5304
[5]: http://www.atour.com/news/international/20010710l.html
[6]: ‘The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the war, losing the peace’ by Ali Allawi; ‘Republic of Fear’ by Kanan Makiya page 215;
[1]: http://gjpi.org/wp-content/uploads/rcc-resolution-234-of-2001.pdf
[7]: http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2006/ipp.pdf – page 55
[8]: http://www.iheu.org/node/1020
Copy-pasted from the English Wikipedia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
NBV
@Sam: Once again you are so wrong, it is laughable.
Uncle Mo
@Sam:
Sam,
Dust off your history books. Israel accepted the UN partition plan of 1947, Arabs rejected it. That’s the bit they so conveniently leave out. The UN didn’t just create Israel with the partition plan, it also created an Arab state. They didn’t want it then because accepting it would hace de facto recognized the existence of a State for the Jews. That is the real core of the conflict distilled to its essence – Arab rejectionism of ANY Jewish State in ANY amount of land.
At the end of the War of Independence, at the signing of the armistice, once again Israel offered to recognize an Arab state in exchange for its own recognition by its Arab nbeighbors. They rejected this. Within one week of the end of the 1967 war the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously to return all occupied territories in exchange for recogntion. Arabs threw a Summit-cum-Israel Hate Fest at Khartoum rejecting any such agreement. And on we go. Israel has recognized the right of Plaestinian Arabs to a State since 1937, all you have to do is Wikipedia “Peel Plan” to check it for yourself. And yet to this very date all major Palestinian factions not only reject Israel’s right to exist, but openly call for the genocide of every last Jew. Again, Wikipedia “Hamas Charter”.
So why exactly would Israel ever offer any more concessions to people who are sworn to its destruction? They chant every day “Death, death to Israel”. Their TV and radio are a constant drip of genocidal rhethoric. And they have fired 12.000 artillery rockets over Israeli cities in the span of less than a decade. Why shouldn’t we believe them when they say they want to commit total ethnic cleansing of a people that inhabited that land long before Arabs had conquered it or Islam ever existed?
This is why I keep telling you to spare me the bull. Israel covers less than 0.002% of the entire Middle East. It is a country of seven million surrounded by 300 million Arabs taking up the other 99.998% of the territory. And yet Israel is the conquering, opressing, land-grabbing monster in the region, yes? OK.
AdmiralAdama
What a repulsive article by Evan Mulvihill, who practically begs the gay community to vandalize a pro-Israel pro-gay mural due to his bizarre obsession with Israel’s evil. Blech.
David
get back to me when there is no threats by the inbred rabbis in Jerusalem against gay parades or any open gay public activities. apartheid and its lies would like to compare with the palestinians,really? then let them have their own country. then ,and only then , you can compare.
Uncle Mo
@David:
A bullshit argument. You don’t size up a country by how nutty its nutbag fringe is. That comes hand in hand with freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Using that yardstick, we are an utter failure right here is the USA. You size up a country by how the system deals with the nutbags. And in the case of Israel, the gay prode march keeps taking place in Jerusalem year after year despite the religuous nuts of all religions that attempt to stop it. You left that part out… the part where Muslim clerics in Jerusalem also threw a hissy fit over pride events taking place.
Meanwhile here at home, barely a week ago, we had an extremist Evangelical revival in the halls of Congress, a constitutional ammendment banning the recognition of any form of same-sex union, and an attempt to double the funds our government spends defending DOMA. So really, despite young Evan Mulvihill’s ongoing outbursts of ignorance an thinly veiled antisemitism, the fact remains that not only Palestinians have a hell of a lot of catching up to do… so do we here is the US.
Ben
I wonder why@David: It called Jordan, the Majority are Palestinian
James from Canada
@David: What does Jews as a collective have to do with the actions of a few people? Also please tell me this when Christians do the same in the United States.
Also David, can you tell me why Apartheid was a copy of Canada Indian Act when South Africa created their’s? What part of that act which is still in place in Canada did Israel copy then? Also if Hamas or Fatah had the interests of Palestinian LGBT’s then why do they not address their issues for equality in Palestinian society? Why do Palestinian LGBT organizations have to operate inside Israel and not Gaza or the West Bank. Why do Palestinian LGBT organizations have to operate in Israel.
Gregory
Well, Queerty has proved it cannot think for itself with this article. I don’t need to read articles that just follow the trends. Unbookmarked. #goodbye.
say no to hate
@Gregory:
or shamelessly peddle prejudicial views.
I am close to doing something similar and hope to find a truly free of angenda gay media.
Mary
@Gregory: @say no to hate: As usual, the Israel Lobby is busy uttering threats and dismissing every negative criticism as “hate”.
Just discovered an interesting article:
“Study: Israelis prefer to live in ‘self-denial'”
http://rehmat1.com/2010/05/24/study-israelis-prefer-to-live-in-self-denial/
NBV
@Mary: It’s not hate they are expressing….it’s the fact that this article is complete fiction. Not an ounce of fact here.
Say No to Hate
@Mary:
THank you for sharing this information with us, Mary. Finally someone has the courage to speak the truth against injustice and propoganda of the Zionist theorcracy and controlled state.
marie
Not only that it is pink-washing, but it discrediting the work of Palestinian LGBTQ groups working actively in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/03/palestinian-lgbt-group-israeli-fantasies-about-being-democratic-are-absurd-the-belief-they-are-rescuing-us-is-pathetic.html
Uncle Mo
@marie:
Are you kidding me??? The al-Qaws of the very article you cite CAN’T meet in the West Bank, does NOT have any ongoing activity in Gaza. That al-Qaws holds its events, meetings, and parties IN TEL-AVIV. If that doesn’t speak volumes, nothing does. But then, you can’t cure ideologues with facts, can you?
NBV
@marie: Marie, are you insane? Are you off your meds? Palestinians have NO LGBTQ community! Gays are persecuted there! What kind of a moron are you?
NBV
@Say No to Hate: The only propaganda here is the anti israel propaganda that is being spewed by the entire world. You’re all just too closed minded and dumb to see it.
Say No to Hate
No one hates you or Israel.; The international community loves Israel and gave it land freely To try to take advantage of this and start encroaching on another’s, a poorer people’s land is just disgusting and an abomination.
Beware what the Holy Scriptures says,
“Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 19:14)
“Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? ” ( 2 Samuel 12: 9)
NBV
@Say No to Hate: Once again you are wrong. Israel FOUGHT for its right to exist against 4 arab nations and WON. It FOUGHT again in 1967….and WON. The same way the U.S. FOUGHT to have the land it has now and WON. Israel has tried to negotiate for YEARS with the palestinians only to be met with hate. You are so wrong.
Say No to Hate
Neither Israel nor the US fought for anything.
Land was given to the Israel by the International community and the US was brought into existence by the British Empire.
All wars were fought because of your own crimes.
While the US got away with its crimes in the 1800s unfortunately Israel was not able to in the 1970s and defiantly will not in the present times.