This piece’s original variant first appeared in Queer Majority around.
Their attempt to form an “intersectional” political coalition was widely mocked for ignoring ( or demonstrating a lack of awareness of ) how depressing it is to be LGBT in Palestine when left-wing pro-Palestine protest recently went viral with evidence reading” Homos for Palestine.” American leftist Owen Jones tweeted the following in an effort to minimize the severe and institutional homosexuality in Gaza:
Jones ‘ posts attempt to shift the moral blame for systemic homosexuality in Gaza by echoing arguments made by scientists like Sa’ed Atshan, pro-Hamas groups like the Institute for Palestinian Studies, and British publication Gay Times. It is reasonable to correct the record regarding the death sentence in the interest of precision. But to downplay such a antiquated method in Hamas ‘ protection exposes the sport that many so-called “anti-imperialist” leftists are engaged in. The post was immediately annotated by Twitter’s crowdsourced fact-checking have,” Community Notes,” as you can see above:
While it is correct that the British Empire implemented anti-LGBT legislation in its territories, as the Mission expired in 1948, those laws are no longer in effect. Israel was a part of it as well, and there are no longer any such legislation. Most nations with those laws now, like Gaza, are governed by Sharia.
In fact, Hamas ‘ Islamic radical ideology predates the British Empire’s 40-year presence in the area by more than 1,000 years, and Palestine has low rankings on LGBT understanding from universities like Georgetown and UCLA. This philosophy “harbors a terrible doctrine that is contradictory to the liberties and rights championed by LGBT campaigners,” according to recent article by Armin Navabi. Similar to how Britain’s previously homophobic rules were influenced by conservative Christianity, Hamas ‘ attitude toward homosexuality does not originate from the British but rather from their radical Islamism. You do n’t live like humans in the West, Hamas strategist Mahmoud Al-Zahar told Reuters in 2010. You do n’t even behave like animals. You’re okay with being gay. And then you’re criticizing us?
Personality Politics at Its Most Ironic: Queers for Palestine
In Palestine, they would perish.
Millions of people have lost their lives as a result of the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian criminal organization Hamas, which came after the most fatal attack on Zionists in years. Our preconceived notions about how much brutality and bigotry the American Left is ready to excuse in the name of Critical Social Justice and “decolonization” have also been challenged by the war. There is no denying the immense suffering that colonialism has caused, but we should n’t overstate how it has influenced the social attitudes of those who were once the targets of imperial discretion. It is true that colonialism’s effects may last for a long time longer than those of any empire, but there are times when using the tradition of earlier imperialism to justify current issues disproves the involvement of conquered people.
Beyond terrorist organizations like Hamas, there is a problem with Islamic bigotry. Although there are some ambiguous language in the Quran regarding homosexual and lesbian behavior, the Prophet Muhammad’s hadiths, classical proclamations, and teachings all contain numerous clear prohibitions. In reality, this leads to the standard and illegal persecution of LGBT people all over the Muslim world. Severe exclusion, forced to flee as refugees, and even the threat of kidnapping and beheading are all realities for LGBT Palestinians. Additionally, the government outlaw Transgender rights organizations ‘ activities. And not only LGBT Palestinians are subjected to oppression by Hamas in Gaza. A fundamental aspect of Sharia regulation is the oppression of women. The Arab lands are among the worst places in the world for women, according to animal rights experts. It is extraordinary hypocrisy on the part of American activists who purport to be concerned about marginalized groups to effectively aid Hamas’s continued guideline over Gaza and to refuse Israel the right to self-defense against the terrorist organization.
By contrasting how Gay people are treated in Gaza with how they were in Britain last millennium, the communist claim that British imperialism is to blame for the current Muslim homophobia is rapidly disproved. It’s true that same-sex behaviour was once illegal in the UK, but that rule was overturned in 1967. The American government has recently persecuted some Gay people, most notably Alan Turing, who was chemically castrated and later committed suicide. This is incredibly dishonorable. However, no one was hanged from a hoist or had their nose chopped off for having sex with another man. The persecution of LGBT persons in Gaza is not the outcome of Hamas ‘ heedless adherence to centuries-old British Empire rules.
From 1918 to 1948, the British ruled over the region that is now home to Israel and the Palestinian lands. The American tried to establish two states—one for Israelis and one for Palestinians—but the latter rejected the idea. As a result, the British handed over one of the state to the Israelis, who immediately engaged in combat with seven diverse Muslim nations and territories, which they ultimately prevailed in. In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank, and in 1951, queer behaviour was decriminalized. LGBT Palestinians, however, did not receive such a relief in Gaza, which was under Egyptian control.
Israel was once more attacked by its companions in 1967, which led to another conflict that the Israelis won. From that point on, Israel had complete power over the Gaza Strip until 2005. In order to principle Gaza without political dissent, Hamas later won a majority of the country’s votes, expelled the more modest Fatah party from the Palestinian unity government, and left the West Bank.
By that time, the British had been gone for more than 50 years. Hamas, in any case, decided to go above and beyond the anti-LGBT laws already in place. They decided to adopt Sharia law as opposed to the West Bank’s rules. As was customary in the Taliban and Islamic State, Hamas oppressed women, persecuted non-Muslims, and eradicated everything they saw as a holdover from Western culture, including homosexuality, with the aid of spiritual police. The brutality of the American colonial government was well known. Hamas performed worse. People of Gaza who were gay and lesbian were kidnapped and tortured by them.
In the Muslim-majority world, where many areas the British not colonized, LGBT rights are essentially nonexistent. A ideology group is Hamas. Does anyone really believe that Hamas would have acted differently if there had n’t been an outdated British legal system?
The Negative Prospect of Islamic Feminism
Although Muslim women are engaged in fierce conflict within their communities, their struggles do not resemble those of liberal Western feminism.
American liberals like Owen Jones, who identify as “decolonization” activists, are motivated by a Essential Social Justice-inspired view of the world that categorizes people into “oppressors” and “ofpressed.” Anyone connected to light people or the West is generally viewed as tyrannical in this view, and European countries and governors are always the oppressors. What Scandinavian sociology Göran Adamson refers to as “masochistic nationalism” characterizes this twisted view of the world. The hedonistic nationalist sees their country as the center of the world, just like the reactionary nationist, but they see it as its singular antagonist rather than the global hero. This gives them the freedom to engage in the kind of superficial self-criticism that makes them feel ethically superior while oblivious to the challenges of history and international relations.
The fact that people have the freedom to choose whether to be moral or immoral, just like everyone else, is ignored when people are categorized as subjugated. They are held to lower moral standards by this delicate bigotry of low expectations. Liberal governments recognize and defend human rights, including those of LGBT people and women, to a greater extent than any other governments in history, despite all of their flaws. Everyone should be held to that common.
It is possible to acknowledge the injustices the Israeli government has committed against Palestinians as well as the fact that Hamas is a fascist, autocratic regime hell-bent on holocaust and worldwide jihad that denigrates LGBT people and executes even its own commanders for the simple charge of homosexual sex. Unless we first completely Gazans from Hamas, there can be no “free Palestine” or” Homos for Palestine.”
The fact continues to exist, so to speak, behind your back, no matter how much you deny it, according to George Orwell. The Arab citizens have been subjected to constant oppression by Hamas. Hamas demonstrated its disrespect for the security of the Palestinians living under its rule by carrying out terrorist attacks on Israel from Gaza’s human places, endangering millions of lives. Too many on the Western left twist themselves into pretzels to find ways to place the blame for Hamas ‘ shortcomings on others ( including their own Western nations ) rather than confronting this reality. They put their own sadistic patriotism at the center of the debate rather than supporting the removal of Hamas, which would really improve the lives of Palestinians.
They frequently assert that LGBT activists who “pinkwash” Israel’s wrongdoings by citing its LGBT rights are engaging in a form of colonialism by demanding that Palestinians live up to our” Western” standards. Ironically, these “decolonialists” are imposing their own distinctively European frame on the Middle East. They are, to use their own exponential and hypocritical jargon, cultural” colonizers” when they use a foreign conflict to further their self-centered plan. However, their tortured logic has made them valuable idiots in the services of the ferociously racist far-right Islamists, which is much worse.
The original version of this article was published in Queer Majority, a release that upholds consenting adults ‘ physical rights and freedoms while avoiding identity politics and remaining steadfastly committed to liberal principles and free speech.
