Pinkwashing is an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.
For decades, Israel’s colonial and apartheid regime has robbed, oppressed, ethnically cleansed, impoverished, imprisoned, and killed Palestinians, queer, and non-queer alike.
As Israel’s far-right government allies itself with homophobic, intolerant, and racist leaders around the world, including Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and Christians United for Israel (CUFI) leader, pastor John Hagee, who combines anti-Semitism with Islamophobia, sexism, and homophobia, LGBTQIA+ communities are seeing through the pink smokescreen. There is growing awareness that queer and trans liberation cannot be separated from Palestinian liberation.
Anti-pinkwashing activists and groups have pushed Palestinian rights to the forefront of Pride events across the world. More than 100 LGBTQIA+ groups supported the call from Palestinian queers to boycott Eurovision 2019 in apartheid Tel Aviv. Dozens of queer filmmakers have withdrawn or opposed screenings of their films at TLVFest, the Israeli government-sponsored LGBT film festival in Tel Aviv.
Why?
Israel’s exploitation of LGBTQIA+ rights, known as pinkwashing, works to shift attention away from Israel’s regime of occupation and apartheid.
Israel’s pinkwashing agenda seeks to portray itself as a fun-loving gay haven while using racist stereotypes to depict Palestinians as backward.
Through lobby groups, often allied with right-wing homophobic organizations, Israel promotes its pinkwashing agenda around the world.
For more information, see the Pinkwatching Israel website and anti-pinkwashing resources from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace.
TAKE ACTION
Queer and trans groups are campaigning to counter Israel’s pinkwashing efforts to build a more inclusive movement for the liberation of all oppressed communities.
There are BDS partners all over the world who are working to campaign against Israeli pinkwashing. Get active and connect with one now!
Help build a more inclusive movement for the liberation of all oppressed communities by spreading the word on Israel's pinkwashing agenda. Work together with local queer, trans, and feminist groups to organize a workshop, public talk, or film screening on Israel’s pinkwashing. Get in touch for possible speakers: [email protected]
The success of the campaign to convince queer and trans filmmakers not to participate in the Israeli government-sponsored LGBT film festival is largely due to outreach by local partners and among fellow filmmakers. Contact us for more information: [email protected]
Join the itinerant Queer Cinema for Palestine (QCP) solidarity initiative offering artists and arts groups around the world a vibrant space to stand together, using our art to oppose the ongoing violence of Israeli occupation and apartheid against Indigenous Palestinians. QCP stands in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and across all of historic Palestine and denounces Israel’s genocidal attacks and ethnic cleansing against millions of Palestinians.
Keep an eye out for Israeli pinkwashing events at film festivals, Pride events, and campus talks in your area. Build a coalition of local groups to convince organizers not to host known pinkwashing organizations or Israeli government-sponsored events. If they fail to do so, organize a creative protest or an alternative event to raise awareness.
Israel markets itself as a fun-loving destination for gay travel. Palestinian guidelines for ethical tourism call for a boycott of all LGBTQIA+ events organized by or in cooperation with the Israeli government or complicit Israeli institutions and to refrain from using any LGBTQIA+ services or utilities like beaches, bars, hotels, or clubs, provided by operators and companies that are complicit in Israel’s human rights violations.
Contact us to receive periodic updates on anti-pinkwashing efforts around the world and news from Palestinian groups: [email protected]
