LGBTQ+ Magical Thinking Re: Gaza
Since October 7th, I've been vacillating between flabbergasted incredulity, a literal sensation of nausea, and sincere dismay at this catastrophe of delusion, circular thinking & contorted logic...
Sunday, May 5th, 2024
Okay. This is a rant. I have to get this off my chest, because I’m just about ready to explode with a full bodied emotion I tried to describe in the subtitle…
I live in a world filled with magical thinkers. Gah!
There’s an article in The Gay Times written for Westerners wondering why or whether the LGBTQ+ community “should care about Palestine.”
In the article, the author writes:
“The British played a prominent role in exporting homophobia to the Global South, including the state of Palestine. “There is a role that Western colonialism has played in exacerbating homophobia within the Middle East, North Africa region and across the Global South,” Atshan agrees. “Much of the justification that the British and the French marshalled in colonising these parts of the world was the belief these people were seen as primitive and barbarians. The ‘evidence’ for that was that these people were viewed as too accepting of homosexuality and they need to be disciplined.”
This is utter bullshit.
This is what the Koran says about homosexuality:
“This sin, the impact of which makes one’s skin crawl, which words cannot describe, is evidence of perverted instincts, total collapse of shame and honor, and extreme filthiness of character and soul… The heavens, the Earth and the mountains tremble from the impact of this sin. The angels shudder as they anticipate the punishment of Allah to descend upon the people who commit this indescribable sin.”
Here’s an idea!
If you want to support the LGBTQ+ community in the Middle East, find the people in Israel doing the hard work, on the ground, and support them. Tel Aviv, for example, hosts one of the largest international Gay Pride Parades (a week long) in the world with over 250,000 attendees — and it’s a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ individuals escaping deadly persecution from surrounding intolerant neighbors (like Gaza and the countries that backed Hamas’ long-planned attack in Israel on October 7th).
Male same-sex activity is illegal and punishable by imprisonment in Kuwait, Egypt, Oman, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. It is also punishable by death in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. AND in Yemen and the Gaza Strip, the punishment is either death or imprisonment depending on the act committed.
Here’s a great question to ponder!
In 2005, when Israel agreed to the removal of the IDF installations, forces and over 9,000 Israeli citizens, handing Gaza back to Fatah (at the time) and Hamas — how did LGBTQ+ Palestinians feel?
And another one!
"Who helps LGBTQ+ refugees escape Gaza? And who helps them when they arrive in Israel? Physicians for Human Rights - Israel, HIAS (Hebrew Immigrants Aid Society), Worker’s Hotline, and the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, among others.
Oh, but wait! YOU want to “boycott & divest” from Israel, right?
You want to eliminate funding for EVERYTHING ISRAELI including the groups actively saving LGBTQ+ refugees who fled to Israel for sanctuary.
While you’re waving your flags, wreaking havoc, skipping class, or virtue signaling on the weekend — Physicians for Human Rights Israel is actively advocating on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza. Check out their website. They’re on the front fucking lines, risking their lives FOR REAL, fighting a complicated fight they uniquely understand.
BUT, because this is an “Israeli Organization” you idiots want it de-funded, right?
If you got your way, you’d prevent the very people who are in the trenches, working with LGBTQ+ Palestinians desperate for a kind face, a helping hand, and a sense of acceptance and safety — because you have no clue.
WESTERN CITIZENS WITH TIME TO KILL ARE MAKING LIFE HARDER FOR THE PEOPLE THEY PRETEND TO BE ADVOCATING FOR!! MOST OF THESE PEOPLE KNOW VIRTUALLY NOTHINGABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST & FAIL TO RECOGNIZE HOW THEIR ACTIONS ARE FANNING THE FLAMES OF A FIRE THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
For most protesters, painting a sign and attending a march on their day off is entertainment. It strokes their ego. They feel like they’ve accomplished something concrete. Something real. Something meangingful. But have they? NO. Nothing good, at least.
Here’s what I want to ask the “Queers for a Free Palestine” protestors:
Did you do any research first? On your own?
How many years have you spent tracking and studying this complex issue?
Are you Muslim?
Are you Palestinian?
Do you know anyone who is?
Are they secular, liberal, or conservative?
What do they say happens to gay people in Gaza?
How much do they know about this, or is it so terrifyingly “haram” that there’s nothing to know?
How many LGBTQ+ Gazans were murdered last year?
The year before that?
How many managed to escape into Israel?
If so, how did they manage that feat?
Americans enslaved in the South had Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Who serves that function in Gaza?
Oooooh — Maybe it would be Israeli citizens? People working toward Peace, like those living in southern Israel along the Gazan border? Maybe it would be those volunteers who drive Gazans to Israeli hospitals for medical treatment? MAYBE some of them were safe people who could be confided in, and MAYBE they would help connect terrified LGBTQ+ Gazans with Physicians for Human Rights - Israel?