An Open Letter from OutRage! to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, opposing the PSC’s call for a boycott of World Pride in Jerusalem in 2006.
London – 12 September 2005
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has endorsed a boycott of World Pride, which is due to be held in Jerusalem in 2006 (see the statement by Diane Langford of the PSC on the website Boycott World Pride – www.boycottworldpride.org).
OutRage! opposes the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the abuse of Palestinian human rights.
We would endorse World Pride including the slogan: “No Pride in the Israeli Occupation”.
But OutRage! cannot support a boycott of World Pride. Progressives do not boycott liberation struggles. We support them.
World Pride is an expression of the global struggle for queer liberation. It deserves international support.
Boycotting oppressive Israeli institutions is justified, but boycotting a celebration of queer life, culture and human rights is a reactionary stance that plays into the hands of homophobes.
A boycott of World Pride in Jerusalem would not aid the queer or Palestinian struggles. It would cause rejoicing by homophobic fundamentalists from the Christian, Judaist and Muslim faiths – all of whom want World Pride banned.
The proposed boycott puts the PSC in the same camp as these reactionary fundamentalists.
Those who want a boycott of World Pride ignore the violent persecution of LGBT people in Palestine, where queers are arrested, jailed, tortured and murdered in so-called “honour killings”. This abuse is perpetrated by armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Palestine Liberation Organisation factions such as Fatah, and by the police and security agents of the Palestinian Authority.
For details: see the OutRage! briefing:
http://www.outrage.org.uk/briefing.asp?ID=90
Homophobia exists in Israel too and we condemn it. But it is nowhere near the same scale and viciousness as Palestinian homophobia. For all its faults, the Israeli state does not jail and torture LGBTs because of their sexuality. The Palestinian state does.
We find it shocking that the PSC – and much of the left – is silent about this violent victimisation of Palestinian queers. Do you only support liberation for straight Palestinians? If not, why do you ignore the suffering of LGBT Palestinians? When will you speak out against the homophobic terror inflicted on queers by Palestinian militants and state agents?
The PSC wants to boycott a World Pride event that will show solidarity with the victims of Palestinian (and Israeli) homophobia. Whose side is the PSC on?
It is important that this international celebration of queer life, culture and human rights is held in the Middle East, and that it challenges the religious homophobia that is wrecking the lives of LGBT people in Israel, Palestine and throughout the region.
OutRage! would prefer World Pride to be held in the Palestinian city of Ramallah – not Jerusalem – but the homophobic Palestinian Authority would not allow it.
We issue a challenge to the PSC and its pro-boycott allies:
If you don’t want World Pride to be held in Jerusalem, persuade the Palestinian Authority to host World Pride in Ramallah. If you succeed, we will support a campaign for World Pride’s relocation.
World Pride is in solidarity with the LGBT liberation struggles in Israel, Palestine and worldwide. A boycott would be a tragic betrayal of the quest for universal queer freedom.
Instead of urging all Palestinians – gay and straight – to unite against the Israeli occupation, the PSC and its left-wing allies appear quite content to allow straight Palestinians to undermine the liberation struggle by setting straight Palestinians against LGBT Palestinians. The Israelis must be jumping for joy that Palestinian is persecuting Palestinian.
Tolerating homophobia and sexism does not aid the cause of Palestinian freedom; it weakens it. We support those courageous Palestinians who are challenging anti-gay and anti-women prejudice. We are in solidarity with their struggle for democracy and human rights within Palestinian society.
The PSC’s backing for a boycott of World Pride does not advance the Palestinian freedom movement one iota. But it will give comfort to the oppressors of LGBT people and undermine a genuine attempt at global solidarity against homophobia. We cannot support reactionary calls for a boycott of World Pride 2006.
We urge the PSC to concentrate on mobilising international opinion in support of the Palestinian cause and on promoting unity, equality and solidarity between all Palestinians, regardless of gender or sexuality.
Yours for universal human rights and international solidarity against all forms of oppression,
OutRage!