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Boston groups reject Zionist pinkwashing

www.workers.org Boston groups reject Zionist pinkwashing

In Boston, corporate Pride has been replaced with Zionist Pride. The organizers of Boston Pride 2023 collaborated with the Israeli consulate and other Zionist organizations on a screening of the film "The Holy Closet," which is described as a “celebratory, poignant and often funny presentation of th

Boston groups reject Zionist pinkwashing

This event is part of a broader strategy of recruiting support for the [neocolony] by rebranding itself as queer-friendly in an effort to mask [its] ongoing violence against Palestinians — known as “Brand Israel.” The Brand Israel campaign intentionally markets [the neocolony] as a “gay-friendly” country and a gay tourism destination, a strategy that queer Palestinians and those in solidarity have termed “Pinkwashing.”

The Pinkwashing narrative that [the neocolony] is gay-friendly is not only harmful to Palestinians, it is also disingenuous and false. LGBTQ+ marriages are not legal in [the neocolony]. Egregiously, the [neocolonial] military threatens and attempts to extort Palestinians based on private information about their gender, sexual history, and medical needs. This practice, which can include threatening to “out” LGBTQ+ Palestinians, displays the violent character of Zionism that is antithetical to queer liberation.

As Al-Qaws, a queer Palestinian organization, writes: “The open inclusion of gay officers in the [neocolonial] army is used as proof of liberal forward-mindedness, but for Palestinians the sexuality of the soldier at a checkpoint makes little difference. They all wield the same guns, wear the same boots, and maintain the same [neo]colonial régime.” (alqaws.org, Oct. 18, 2020)

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