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.
Of course Israel denies that it intends to commit genocide. If you’re looking for genocidal intent, just look at the words of Smotrich, Ben Gvir, and Netanyahu. Or the words of thousands of rabid Israelis on Jerusalem Day as they publically call for ethnic cleansing.
The IDF stopped the knocking-before-bombing system very early on in this conflict. And when you’re bombing refugee tent cities, no warning is possible.
Your genocide denial is disgusting.
You call everyone who does not fully support your view a “genocide denier” and “disgusting”? Comon… Is this your argument?
Yes, after the horrific attack on Israeli civilians, many politicians were emotional and understandably so, I might add. But yes, there are obviously some right wingers in the Israeli government who might commit a genocide or at least ethnic cleansing. I don’t deny that. But the most important part of the government does not have the intention for genocide.
The IDF warns civilians in gaza before attacks, has field hospitals, hospital ships and even let’s in humanitarian aid to gaza, even when a big majority in the population of Israel is against such aid. How does this fit with it this narrative of genocide.
Like I said: Words matter here. There are war crimes in this war, which is bad enough, but genocide is the worst crime in international law, and the word gets thrown around like it’s nothing. This trivializes the whole debate…
This claim, which is older than the war in gaza is a way to demonize Israel.
Israel is demonizing themselves without anyone else’s help. Don’t blame others for what Bebe and the ultra nationalists are doing rn.