Last November, Israel’s official social media accounts shared a photo of a smiling Israeli soldier proudly holding a rainbow flag amid the rubble in Gaza, where over 10,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – had been killed in the weeks following October 7.
Written upon the multi-coloured flag – an iconic, decades-old symbol of LGBTQ+ pride – in English, Arabic and Hebrew, were the words “In The Name Of Love.”
The image quickly went viral. The soldier, a 31-year-old gay man, explained to the media that the Israeli military was “the only army in the Middle East that protects democratic values… it is the only army that allows LGBT people the freedom to be who they are, and therefore I fully believe in our goal.”
Meanwhile, on Instagram, Israel’s account described the image as an “attempt to raise the first pride flag in Gaza as a call for peace and freedom.”
But for many LGBTQ+ activists, and those struggling for Palestinian liberation, the incident represented an almost perfect example of “pinkwashing” – a term that refers to a state or organization’s attempts to use LGBTQ+ rights and symbols to distract or deflect attention from its harmful practices.
Pride being used to help disadvantaged victims is fine.
Pride being used to make genocide progressive is vile.
The real disadvantaged victims are queer people in Palestine (and especially Gaza), where being gay or trans is persecuted to a degree unlike nearly every other place in the world. Not only are they oppressed by Israel, but they’re also oppressed by their own people. Here’s a good report on the matter (PDF) https://cdn.sida.se/app/uploads/2021/05/07094749/rights-of-lgbt-persons-palestine.pdf
Human rights should come before anything else, whether it’s borders or religion or whatever. The morally consistent position is to advocate for Palestinian freedom that also includes freedom for all Palestinians to be themselves.