(In)Equality Forum 2012 – The Year’s Biggest Pinkwashing Event – Take Action

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Palestinian Queers for BDS| Leave a comment

Dear Friends -

The Equality Forum, an annual LGBTQ conference held in Philadelphia, has announced that Israel is their featured nation for 2012, and they have invited the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, to deliver the keynote speech.

Ambassador Oren, who personally has an atrocious record of supporting Israel’s war crimes and was the object of a demonstration by students in 2010 at UC Irvine (the Irvine 11), has no business delivering the keynote speech at a conference dedicated to social justice and equality.  This year’s Equality Forum conference, which is partnered with the Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, is a flagrant form of Pinkwashing.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in (PQ)BDS News, Home

(In)equality Forum 2012 Israel as Featured Nation, and Israeli Ambassador to US, Michael Oren, as Keynote Speaker!

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Palestinian Queers for BDS| 1 Comment

We, Palestinian Queers for BDS (PQBDS) and Pinkwatching Israel, are appalled by the Equality Forum’s decision to highlight Israel as the featured nation of their 2012 Summit in Philadelphia this May. While attempting to celebrate the purported advancements of LGBT civil rights within Israeli society, the Equality Forum is partnering with the Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism in promoting the Tel Aviv gay tourism agenda. Even more disturbing is the Equality Forum’s willingness to provide Israel with a platform to market itself as a state that protects human rights. We call upon the Equality Forum leadership to reverse their complicity in Israel’s propaganda campaign. Continue reading →

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Home, Statements

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Palestinian Queers for BDS| 1 Comment

After months of planning and preparation, the first LGBTIQ delegation made it to Palestine in early January 2012. Below is the delegation’s statement in which they describe their visit and express their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Please read, sign, and circulate widely!

http://www.queersolidaritywithpalestine.com/

An Open Letter to LGBTIQ Communities and Allies on the Israeli Occupation of Palestine

We are a diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and trans activists, academics, artists, and cultural workers from the United States who participated in a solidarity tour in the West Bank of Palestine and Israel from January 7-13, 2012.

What we witnessed was devastating and created a sense of urgency around doing our part to end this occupation and share our experience across a broad cross-section of the LGBTIQ community. We saw with our own eyes the walls—literally and metaphorically—separating villages, families and land. From this, we gained a profound appreciation for how deeply embedded and far reaching this occupation is through every aspect of Palestinian daily life.

Continue reading →

→ 1 Comment

Posted in (PQ)BDS News, Home