Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Support Palestine, but challenge homophobia

By Peter Tatchell of OutRage! | 15.06.2004 16:36 | Gender | London | World

These issues aside, OutRage! values the work of the PSC. We will continue to support its efforts to help secure a free Palestine. We hope that in return the PSC will work with us to pressure the PLO, Hamas and the PA to abandon their homophobia and create a truly liberated nation based on human rights for all.

The queer rights group OutRage! is "attempting to defame" the Palestine solidarity movement and is "damaging the cause of solidarity with Palestinians", according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

The PSC made this claim in a letter to the left-wing Morning Star newspaper, published last Saturday, 5 June. It was objecting to OutRage!'s criticism of the officially-sanctioned persecution of queers in the Palestinian-controlled areas of Gaza and the West Bank, and to OutRage!'s revelation of attempts by PSC officials and stewards to silence this criticism.

Members of OutRage! joined the PSC demonstration in London on 15 May, supporting an end to Israel's human rights abuses against the Palestinians.

Contrary to claims by the PSC, we did not stage a "counter-demonstration". We were there in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. Our placards said, "Israel: Stop persecuting Palestine".

But we also called for an end to the torture and murder of lesbians and gays by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Our placards additionally read, "Palestine: Stop persecuting queers".

It was never our intention to disrupt the PSC rally or create a big commotion. We had a small, low-key presence. Our aim was to raise awareness. We wanted to alert the supporters of Palestine, in the hope they would help us pressure the Palestinian leadership to halt its oppression of queers.

What turned a minor presence into a major incident was the excessive response of the PSC organisers and stewards. They surrounded us, ordering us to the back of the demonstration. When we refused, they blocked out our placards with their own, obscuring our message. They also shouted us down, preventing us talking with journalists and other protesters who wanted to find out more about the suffering of queers in Palestine.

The PSC now denies this intimidation and censorship took place. But it was filmed by a Channel 4 documentary maker, Darren Lewey, and photographed by four professionals, including the respected left-wing and pro-Palestine photographer Paul Mattsson. They all corroborate OutRage!'s version of events.

In a bid to deflect criticism, the PSC has issued a statement saying it opposes homophobia. Fine words. But what has it done to challenge the violent homophobia of the PLO, Hamas and PA? I wrote to the PSC nine years ago, asking them to urge the PLO to stop killing queers. The PSC did nothing. I emailed the PSC office six weeks ago requesting dialogue. They never replied.

The PSC accuses OutRage! of damaging solidarity with the Palestinians. That's right PSC, blame the people who defend the victims, and let the oppressors off the hook. It is the PLO's and PA's homophobia that is damaging solidarity, by dividing gays and straights - both here and in Palestine.

While the PSC ignores the persecution of Palestinian queers and their pleas for help, OutRage! does not. We heard their appeals for solidarity and acted.

Astonishingly, the PSC letter in the Morning Star completely ignores the issue of PLO and PA violence against lesbians and gays. It offers not a word of sympathy to the victims of Palestinian homophobia, and makes no offer to raise the issue with the Palestinian authorities. The PSC is in deep and total denial. Yet again we seem to have a so-called progressive movement implying that queer lives are expendable for the sake of the greater good of a revolutionary struggle.

There is no doubt that Palestinian queers are the victims of horrendous homophobic violence. This is confirmed by the independent Israeli human rights groups B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights, and by the Israeli gay organisations, Aguda and Open House.

Two senior PLO officials have admitted to me privately that homophobic violence is sanctioned by the Palestinian leadership. Officially, the PLO refuses to discuss the matter. I have tried several times over the last 20 years to quietly and diplomatically raise this issue with the PLO. It has rejected all overtures and attempts at dialogue. That is why OutRage! had to protest. To do nothing would be collusion with homophobic tyranny.

The PSC implies that OutRage! has no right to campaign in solidarity with Palestinian queers, arguing that "Palestinian lesbians and gay men must be allowed to determine for themselves how they wage that struggle". We agree. That is why Outrage!, unlike the PSC, is not ignoring their desperate pleas for help.

I have supported the Palestinian struggle for national liberation for 30-plus years. But freedom for Palestine must be freedom for everyone - straight and gay. Unless we challenge the abuse of queer human rights now, homophobia will become entrenched in a new Palestinian state. If the PLO and PA get away with persecuting queers, they will also be emboldened to trample on the rights of other Palestinians too. Pressuring them to respect queer rights will help create a stronger human rights culture and that will
benefit all Palestinians.

These issues aside, OutRage! values the work of the PSC. We will continue to support its efforts to help secure a free Palestine. We hope that in return the PSC will work with us to pressure the PLO, Hamas and the PA to abandon their homophobia and create a truly liberated nation based on human rights for all.

By Peter Tatchell of OutRage!
- e-mail: media@outrage.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.outrage.org.uk

Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. and? — bandora
  2. middle east — the voice of common sense
  3. for fucks sake Pete?!?! — Joel

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech