On February 10th, 2011, I was lucky enough to attend the Palestinian Queer Activists forum at the CUNY Grad Center. The two representatives of queer Palestinian women were Haneen and Ghadir, from alQaws: For Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society and ASWAT: Palestinian Gay Women, respectively. Because of the danger the activists face if they could be identified back home, no photos or video could be taken. Katherine Acey, founding Executive Director of The Astraea Lesbian Fund for Justice, and lesbian Arab activist, moderated the event.
ASWAT, formed in 2002, is the first Queer Women’s organization located in the Palestinian territories. Two lesbians met in an online chat room and were shocked to discover that they were both Palestinian. Palestinian society is deeply homophobic. In fact, until they met, each of these women had believed that she was the only queer Palestinian woman in the world. After much anxiety, the two decided to meet in person and the group expanded from there to become what is now known as ASWAT, a place where queer women can meet in a safe and supportive space. Contrary to popular belief, homosexuality is not criminalized in Palestinian society. Palestine, Egypt and Lebanon are the only three countries in the region that do not criminalize homosexuality. However, homosexuality is not spoken of at all. Queer individuals living in these regions do not feel comfortable being “out,” therefore, ASWAT does most of their work underground. “Queer Palestinian Law is not the case; it is the society that needs to be changed,” declared Ghadir.
Haneen, who represented alQaws, is openly gay in her hometown of Jerusalem. alQaws started in 2001 as a grassroots, community-based organization that works with LGBTQ Palestinians throughout Israel and Palestinian occupied territories. Ghadir lives in a self described “gray area,” where she is closeted at home and to certain friends. She explored her sexuality in college and is open in the workplace.
One of the issues discussed was “pinkwashing.” Homosexuality is not illegal in Palestine, per se, but because Palestinian society is so homophobic, queer Palestinians face many issues of oppression at home. In response to this, Israel has initiated the so-called pinkwashing campaign; an effort to paint itself as a queer-friendly nation in order to distract attention from the Palestinian “problem.” Israel is trying to divide the Palestinian population by seducing this particular minority, presumably in the hopes that queer Palestinians will speak out in the international community in favor of their good treatment by Israel.
However, the Palestinian queer community has not been fooled. They are, first and foremost, Palestinian. They have suffered under an Israeli naval blockade, which has prevented international aid from reaching them. They have watched job opportunities taken from them and given to foreign-born immigrants. They have endured walls and checkpoints and armed soldiers limiting their movements and hindering their opportunities. As Haneen said to the audience, “ I don’t know why the sexuality of the soldier standing at the checkpoint matters. It’s that he’s there at all that matters.”
A major problem that all Palestinians face is occupation. Because of the daily struggle for equal rights in Israeli occupied Palestine, the Queer movement has not been able to get the necessary attention. “Occupation hinders any form of activism...occupation ends, then feminism and women’s rights, then maybe Queer rights.” Ghadir also urged the audience to visit the occupied territories to see for themselves what it is like under Israeli control.
Before I visited the Palestinian territories, I never had any interest in my ethnicity. I only identified as an Arab when people asked me “what I was.” During my visit, I witnessed countless acts of oppression by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian people. I learned that Palestinian people in the territories were not allowed to pass checkpoints into Israel without permits, could not use certain roads and highways that Israelis used, and had to have different colored license plates on their cars. Also, the checkpoints made traveling a real hassle; what should take about an hour traveling from work to home and vice versa took three hours or more. I once walked through a checkpoint, went shopping for over an hour, came back to discover that the same people were waiting to get into the city. The line had not moved at all and nobody was being searched. The soldiers were keeping them in line for their own amusement.
The event was packed; at least seventy-five people were turned away because the room was at capacity. The audience learned more from those two hours about occupied Palestine and Queer Palestinians than they could have from any news channel. They were able to talk to the people who live there, the people who face oppression and discrimination every day single day. It was truly inspirational to see their courage and resolve. Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the College of Staten Island, who helped organize and raised money for the tour, had this to say; “Their oppression is so immense and yet they managed to integrate resistance to occupation with feminism and Queer desire, and I think this is so inspiring. They are so far ahead of us.”