Tel Aviv ( AFP )- As activists accuse Israel of using its liberal image as a weapon against Hamas, an Israeli soldier raises the rainbow flag in support of the LGBTQ community amid the war-torn ruins of Gaza.
Published on: 21/11/2023- 14:01
3 minutes
In contrast to the Palestinian territories, including the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, where homosexuality is still forbidden, Israel has the most progressive legal approach to it in the Middle East.
Screenwriter Lee Kern claims that two pictures of a man in Gaza were initially posted online by him on X, previously Twitter, and that they depicted” the first ever pride symbol raised in Palestine.”
He claimed that queer Israeli soldier Yoav Atzmoni took the flags it, quoting him as saying that Israel’s military was the only one in the area” that allows queer people the flexibility to be who we are.” I therefore firmly believe in the justice of our produce.
Numerous official social media platforms, including some Israeli offices around the world and the state of Israel on X, eagerly reacted to the blog.
By Tuesday, nearly 17 million people had viewed the article on the Israel X account, which stated that Atzmoni “wanted to deliver a message of hope to the people of Gaza living under Hamas cruelty.”
The phrases” In the name of like” were scrawled across one symbol.
Behind the man was a panorama of destroyed buildings and wrecked streets from Israel’s military campaign to overthrow Hamas.
In the other image, Atzmoni is seen standing in front of a container holding an Israeli flag with bright folds along its edge that is still clearly visible.
The pictures caused a stir among some Gay protesters.
The Alwan Foundation, an LGBTQ advocacy organization in the Gulf, was founded by Nas Mohamed, who questioned the use of Israeli LGBTQ freedom as a “weapon” against Palestinians who lack them.
The rainbow flag, he told AFP, “has absolutely no place in this warfare.”
” Torpedol horse.”
The images were criticized as “disgusting” by a Arab Transgender activist who goes by the alias Ahmad Nawwas.
He claimed that the main concept was that gay Palestinians “do no exist” or that” they can only be completely if they depend on Israel.”
He added that this might even increase bigotry among Palestinians, who might believe that homosexuality is “exclusive to Israel.”
According to Israeli officials, Israel has vowed to” crush” Hamas in retaliation for the group’s attack on Gaza on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and the kidnapping of about 240 others.
According to Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, the military’s air and ground plan has claimed the lives of 13, 300 persons, including more than 5, 500 children.
Israel has long been charged with “pinkwashing,” or promoting its reputation for compassion, in an effort to cover up its destroyed reputation from its job of Palestinian territories.
According to Rasha Younes, a researcher on LGBTQ rights in the Middle East at Human Rights Watch ( HRW), Israel “uses LGBT rights to pinkwash Israel’s image” and present itself as” a human rights bastion of the region.”
” Gay money”
AFP repeatedly asked Kern and Atzmoni for reply, but neither of them responded.
However, Israel has a sizable and significant LGBTQ group, especially in Tel Aviv, which is frequently referred to as the “gay money of the Middle East.”
Israel is a leader in the region’s LGBTQ rights lawfully, despite the fact that sexuality is fiercely opposed by traditional religious events.
While it only records religious weddings internally, it acknowledges same-sex marriages performed worldwide.
That contrasts with Arab countries where sexuality is still frowned upon.
The NGO LGBT Network’s president, David Kilmnick, recently urged the public to back Israel in its conflict with Hamas as” a matter of principle and survival” in a US newspapers paragraph.
According to HRW’s Younes, it was obvious that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under occupation imposed restrictions on LGBTQ rights.
However, that does not negate the wrongdoings committed by the Israeli authorities that have prevented many Palestinians, whether they are gay or no, from having access to basic service and any form of freedom.
AFP 2023
