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xmontrealer

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May 23, 2005
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From The National Post:

Do these people know who they are cheering for, and what would happen to them in Muslim countries?

Armin Navabi: Queers for Palestine's unholy alliance with Islamic fundamentalists
Opinion by Quillette • 11h


A woman holds a


On the morning of Oct. 7, the Palestinian terror group Hamas orchestrated a multi-pronged assault against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Their fighters breached the heavily fortified border and murdered more than 1,400 Israeli civilians, including young children. Here in the West, the political discourse surrounding these brutal events and the war that has come in their wake has been coloured by a misguided transposition of western identity politics onto the Middle East, which collapses all nuance and reduces a complex situation into a simple binary of oppressor versus oppressed.

Leftists in English-speaking nations tend to see Palestinians (including Hamas) as an oppressed, brown victim class, whose freedom-fighting “resistance” against their oppressive, white, U.S.-backed colonizers in Israel is a righteous cause with which to stand in solidarity. This facile view of the long-standing conflict in the Middle East leads to confused and contradictory thinking, as seen in the incoherent slogan (and now meme) “Queers for Palestine,” emblazoned on banners brandished at anti-Israel rallies.

“Queers for Palestine” attempts to meld LGBTQ+ advocacy with Palestinian liberation, a juxtaposition that has precipitated a whirlwind of criticism and ridicule , since LGBTQ+ rights scarcely exist within the Muslim world; and the Palestinian territories are no exception. The slogan has been widely satirized. Variations like “ Chickens for KFC ” and “ Blacks for the KKK ” highlight its proponents’ basic lack of awareness of just how incompatible the values of the western left are with those of the Islamic right they so readily champion.

The reality of the situation could not be starker. Though there is room for improvement in Israeli attitudes towards these issues, Israel is at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights in the Middle East. In Israel, LGBTQ+ people are visible members of society with legal protections and civil rights, and are accepted by a plurality of its citizens.

Palestine is quite a different story. A 2021 report on LGBTQ+ acceptance by UCLA’s Williams Institute rated Israel 44th out of the 175 countries/territories it examined. Palestine came in at number 130, behind Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Georgetown University likewise placed Palestine 160th out of 170 countries on its women’s peace and security index, in company with most of the countries in that region. Amnesty International’s 2020 report on human rights highlights the fact that, in Gaza, male same-sex relationships are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and points out the conspicuous absence of legal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and harassment. This lack of civil rights has led hundreds of gay and bisexual Palestinians to flee to Israel to escape persecution . One such refugee, Ahmad Abu Marhia , a 25-year-old gay Palestinian man, was living under asylum in Israel when, in 2022, he was kidnapped and beheaded in the West Bank city of Hebron. His murderers uploaded footage of the killing to social media.

Every time these disparities are mentioned, critics are quick to lob accusations of “pinkwashing” — a concept invented to frame any discussion of Israel’s progressive stance on LGBTQ+ issues as a distraction from its mistreatment of Palestinians. But the fact remains that these “Queers for Palestine” could march in Pride parades in Israel if they wanted to. In Palestine, they’d be killed.

Another disconcerting element of “Queers for Palestine” is that the slogan popped up in prominent left-wing anti-Israel/pro-Palestine rallies in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s terrorist attacks, before Israel had even had the chance to respond. There is no way to interpret this slogan and the surrounding leftist fervour except as a signal of support not merely for Palestine, but specifically for Hamas, a jihadist movement with the explicit aim of eradicating the State of Israel. It’s imperative to understand that Hamas, as detailed in its 1988 Covenant, is propelled by a fundamentalist Islamist ideology whose goal is not only to eliminate all Jews but to conquer the world — just like ISIS. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar has stated on record , “The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors.”

Western support for Hamas, under the guise of support for Palestinian liberation, betrays an ignorance of the deep-seated radical Islamist ethos driving that organization, which, if left unchecked, would jeopardize the very freedoms cherished by LGBTQ+ people across the developed world. Anyone who doubts this should try being gay, bi or trans in most of the Middle East and North Africa’s Muslim-majority countries. Almost all these nations have laws that criminalize both homosexuality and transsexuality , some of which carry the death penalty . Human Rights Watch’s report “ Everyone Wants Me Dead ” succinctly encapsulates in its title alone the perilous environment faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in these regions.

Many on the western left, including the LGBTQ+ left, have become enamoured with critical social justice , through whose warped lens they perceive all of humanity as fitting into two classes: oppressors and oppressed. Armed with this simplistic, binary worldview, leftists gravitate toward perceived liberation movements for other so-called oppressed groups. This narrow prism obscures the universalist ideology of Islamism espoused by groups like Hamas, which under a facade of anti-imperialist rhetoric, harbours a brutal dogma that is antithetical to the liberties and rights championed by LGBTQ+ activists. No matter how much they complain about “pinkwashing,” they can’t conceal the absurd irony of this situation, in which folks who believe in LGBTQ+ liberation are cheerleading ideological movements from which they would flee as refugees were they to live under such regimes.

To be sure, the Palestinian people have endured more than their fair share of suffering, and it’s easy to see how the Palestinian resistance narrative can carry the allure of righteous rebellion, especially for those factions of the hard left that aspire to dismantle liberal society. The vicarious thrill of romanticized revolution leads some to go far beyond simply advocating for the Palestinian people to expressing solidarity with Hamas, ignoring the jihadist ideology at the core of that organization. The followers of this ideology are oppressing LGBTQ+ Palestinians at this very moment. Given half a chance, they would oppress the very leftists now voicing support for the Palestinian cause. And, indeed, this has happened before.

The aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran is a harrowing tale. Leftists were tortured and executed en masse by the very Islamic regime they supported for the sake of their anti-imperialist goals; many Iranians who aligned with leftist organizations supported the revolution only to find themselves persecuted by Islamists they helped put in power.

Immediately following the revolution, the new regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini began systematically oppressing LGBTQ+ people and publicly executing them by the thousands . These atrocities were justified as a means of “eliminating corruption” and preventing the “contamination” of society. Between 4,000 and 6,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual people have been executed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s legal system, rooted in Islamic law, criminalizes consensual sexual relations between same-sex individuals, with penalties ranging from lashes to death. Iranian law does not distinguish between consensual and non-consensual same-sex intercourse; allowing authorities to prosecute both perpetrators and victims of sexual assault.

Images of gay and bi men hanged from cranes so that they slowly suffocate to death serve as grim reminders for anyone interested in human rights: align with Islamic fundamentalists at your peril.
The phenomenon of “Queers for Palestine,” and the realities it glosses over, underscore the need for a more informed and discerning discourse — a discourse that transcends catchy slogans and moral binaries and delves into the complex, often discordant ideologies at play in the Israel-Palestine conflict. That way, we can advocate for a better future without bolstering forces antithetical to liberal values, and without betraying LGBTQ+ people by undermining their very rights and freedoms. We can’t do that if we overwrite the complicated dynamics of a 75-year foreign conflict with our own provincial identity politics.

Armin Navabi is an ex-Muslim atheist, author and podcaster. He is the founder of Atheist Republic, co-host of the podcast Secular Jihadists and the author of “Why There Is No God” (2014).


National PostVisit National Post
 

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mandrill

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Aug 23, 2001
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From The National Post:

Do these people know who they are cheering for, and what would happen to them in Muslim countries?

Armin Navabi: Queers for Palestine's unholy alliance with Islamic fundamentalists
Opinion by Quillette • 11h

A woman holds a

On the morning of Oct. 7, the Palestinian terror group Hamas orchestrated a multi-pronged assault against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Their fighters breached the heavily fortified border and murdered more than 1,400 Israeli civilians, including young children. Here in the West, the political discourse surrounding these brutal events and the war that has come in their wake has been coloured by a misguided transposition of western identity politics onto the Middle East, which collapses all nuance and reduces a complex situation into a simple binary of oppressor versus oppressed.

Leftists in English-speaking nations tend to see Palestinians (including Hamas) as an oppressed, brown victim class, whose freedom-fighting “resistance” against their oppressive, white, U.S.-backed colonizers in Israel is a righteous cause with which to stand in solidarity. This facile view of the long-standing conflict in the Middle East leads to confused and contradictory thinking, as seen in the incoherent slogan (and now meme) “Queers for Palestine,” emblazoned on banners brandished at anti-Israel rallies.

“Queers for Palestine” attempts to meld LGBTQ+ advocacy with Palestinian liberation, a juxtaposition that has precipitated a whirlwind of criticism and ridicule , since LGBTQ+ rights scarcely exist within the Muslim world; and the Palestinian territories are no exception. The slogan has been widely satirized. Variations like “ Chickens for KFC ” and “ Blacks for the KKK ” highlight its proponents’ basic lack of awareness of just how incompatible the values of the western left are with those of the Islamic right they so readily champion.

The reality of the situation could not be starker. Though there is room for improvement in Israeli attitudes towards these issues, Israel is at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights in the Middle East. In Israel, LGBTQ+ people are visible members of society with legal protections and civil rights, and are accepted by a plurality of its citizens.

Palestine is quite a different story. A 2021 report on LGBTQ+ acceptance by UCLA’s Williams Institute rated Israel 44th out of the 175 countries/territories it examined. Palestine came in at number 130, behind Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Georgetown University likewise placed Palestine 160th out of 170 countries on its women’s peace and security index, in company with most of the countries in that region. Amnesty International’s 2020 report on human rights highlights the fact that, in Gaza, male same-sex relationships are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and points out the conspicuous absence of legal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and harassment. This lack of civil rights has led hundreds of gay and bisexual Palestinians to flee to Israel to escape persecution . One such refugee, Ahmad Abu Marhia , a 25-year-old gay Palestinian man, was living under asylum in Israel when, in 2022, he was kidnapped and beheaded in the West Bank city of Hebron. His murderers uploaded footage of the killing to social media.

Every time these disparities are mentioned, critics are quick to lob accusations of “pinkwashing” — a concept invented to frame any discussion of Israel’s progressive stance on LGBTQ+ issues as a distraction from its mistreatment of Palestinians. But the fact remains that these “Queers for Palestine” could march in Pride parades in Israel if they wanted to. In Palestine, they’d be killed.

Another disconcerting element of “Queers for Palestine” is that the slogan popped up in prominent left-wing anti-Israel/pro-Palestine rallies in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s terrorist attacks, before Israel had even had the chance to respond. There is no way to interpret this slogan and the surrounding leftist fervour except as a signal of support not merely for Palestine, but specifically for Hamas, a jihadist movement with the explicit aim of eradicating the State of Israel. It’s imperative to understand that Hamas, as detailed in its 1988 Covenant, is propelled by a fundamentalist Islamist ideology whose goal is not only to eliminate all Jews but to conquer the world — just like ISIS. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar has stated on record , “The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors.”

Western support for Hamas, under the guise of support for Palestinian liberation, betrays an ignorance of the deep-seated radical Islamist ethos driving that organization, which, if left unchecked, would jeopardize the very freedoms cherished by LGBTQ+ people across the developed world. Anyone who doubts this should try being gay, bi or trans in most of the Middle East and North Africa’s Muslim-majority countries. Almost all these nations have laws that criminalize both homosexuality and transsexuality , some of which carry the death penalty . Human Rights Watch’s report “ Everyone Wants Me Dead ” succinctly encapsulates in its title alone the perilous environment faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in these regions.

Many on the western left, including the LGBTQ+ left, have become enamoured with critical social justice , through whose warped lens they perceive all of humanity as fitting into two classes: oppressors and oppressed. Armed with this simplistic, binary worldview, leftists gravitate toward perceived liberation movements for other so-called oppressed groups. This narrow prism obscures the universalist ideology of Islamism espoused by groups like Hamas, which under a facade of anti-imperialist rhetoric, harbours a brutal dogma that is antithetical to the liberties and rights championed by LGBTQ+ activists. No matter how much they complain about “pinkwashing,” they can’t conceal the absurd irony of this situation, in which folks who believe in LGBTQ+ liberation are cheerleading ideological movements from which they would flee as refugees were they to live under such regimes.

To be sure, the Palestinian people have endured more than their fair share of suffering, and it’s easy to see how the Palestinian resistance narrative can carry the allure of righteous rebellion, especially for those factions of the hard left that aspire to dismantle liberal society. The vicarious thrill of romanticized revolution leads some to go far beyond simply advocating for the Palestinian people to expressing solidarity with Hamas, ignoring the jihadist ideology at the core of that organization. The followers of this ideology are oppressing LGBTQ+ Palestinians at this very moment. Given half a chance, they would oppress the very leftists now voicing support for the Palestinian cause. And, indeed, this has happened before.

The aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran is a harrowing tale. Leftists were tortured and executed en masse by the very Islamic regime they supported for the sake of their anti-imperialist goals; many Iranians who aligned with leftist organizations supported the revolution only to find themselves persecuted by Islamists they helped put in power.

Immediately following the revolution, the new regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini began systematically oppressing LGBTQ+ people and publicly executing them by the thousands . These atrocities were justified as a means of “eliminating corruption” and preventing the “contamination” of society. Between 4,000 and 6,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual people have been executed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s legal system, rooted in Islamic law, criminalizes consensual sexual relations between same-sex individuals, with penalties ranging from lashes to death. Iranian law does not distinguish between consensual and non-consensual same-sex intercourse; allowing authorities to prosecute both perpetrators and victims of sexual assault.

Images of gay and bi men hanged from cranes so that they slowly suffocate to death serve as grim reminders for anyone interested in human rights: align with Islamic fundamentalists at your peril.
The phenomenon of “Queers for Palestine,” and the realities it glosses over, underscore the need for a more informed and discerning discourse — a discourse that transcends catchy slogans and moral binaries and delves into the complex, often discordant ideologies at play in the Israel-Palestine conflict. That way, we can advocate for a better future without bolstering forces antithetical to liberal values, and without betraying LGBTQ+ people by undermining their very rights and freedoms. We can’t do that if we overwrite the complicated dynamics of a 75-year foreign conflict with our own provincial identity politics.

Armin Navabi is an ex-Muslim atheist, author and podcaster. He is the founder of Atheist Republic, co-host of the podcast Secular Jihadists and the author of “Why There Is No God” (2014).


National PostVisit National Post
The attraction of the anti Israel / pro Palestinian movement in the West is that it can be framed as support for downtrodden brown people against powerful whites. In a world where such causes are becoming increasingly difficult to find, it's probably the only game in town. (The West no longer colonizes Africa, no longer supports wars in Asia and Latin America and has liberalized laws directed against gays and women. The old demo heyday of the 60's and early 70's are long gone).

So the movement attracts hard left people - often fairly young - who are emotionally attracted to the idea of a "cause" and who are very low information - or even "no information". So they ignore the plain fact that Islamic fundamentalism - and even most Islamic societies in the Middle East - are extremely fucked up and nasty for emotional reasons.

The tee shirt icons of my youth - Che, Lenin, Fidel, Mao, etc - were pretty nauseating too. But we still liked them.
 

Butler1000

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Oct 31, 2011
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Yes.

Attacking the Sheikh Hamad hospital is not the only war crime Israel is accused of though. So I don't see how this ends the call for an ICC investigation. But also the video that's been released doesn't show that. Fox, NY Post, and others are quoting the Times of Israel saying the IDF had released a video showing that they were fired at from the windows, but I can't find it and I don't see that in the video they did post. If I missed it, please tell me the timestamp and I'll look again. The ICC will likely want to see it before they rule this strike out.

I wouldn't expect action soon though. The US cannot be investigated for war crimes in Iraq because nether the US nor Iraq have ratified the Rome Statute and the ICC only has jurisdiction over war crimes committed by a signatory state or conducted within the territory of a signatory state. Afghanistan has though, and an investigation into whether America committed war crimes in Afghanistan began in 2016 and is still ongoing. Yes, it's that slow. The only reason Putin was indicted so quickly is because both Russia and Ukraine were signatories at the time of the indictment and both states cooperated which sped the process up (until the indictment came down and Russia withdrew).

Israel hasn't ratified the Rome Statute either, but the State of Palestine has, and as the alleged war crimes (or the lesser "crimes against humanity") occurred in the territory of the State of Palestine, the ICC does have jurisdiction but investigators aren't going to enter an active war zone and Israel is unlikely to coordinate and assist with investigations remotely given that they aren't signatories and have an equally hostile stance towards the ICC as the US does. Especially since the ICC has had an open case against them since last year.

And before anyone asks, the ICC does have open cases for Hamas and "other Palestinian groups".
Sure.

I am of the opinion any Israeli commander who, in light of this and numerous other incidents now of finding military implacents in civilian infrastructure, doesn't treat the whole area as a war zone as a prime target for a court martial.

Its plainly obvious what Hamas has done. And done so not just to try to prevent atrack, but to ENCOURAGE it, for propaganda purposes. They want martyrs. Pictures of bodies, piles of rubble.

As I said, they are asking, nor giving quarter. I don't see why IDF troops should increase the risk to their lives when these people, including the civilians who refuse to leave, want to die. Sure, they should do their best and not line them up. But airstrikes on positions where they are being shot at?

They are justified, along with any casualties in other locations.
 

mandrill

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Aug 23, 2001
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So it follows that the partisan pro-Israel movement, is one of white supremacy, racism and colonialism - ideals, that everyone should fight against. The pro-Palestinian movement, in that case, is morally correct and the pro-Israeli movement, is not.

The problem with the partisan pro-Israel movements, is that its proponents believe that military action can counter Islamic fundamentalism. If anything that the war on terror has taught us, it is precisely military action that enables them.

So why do they ignore information that already exists, and still support Israel's war crimes? For one or more of the following reasons:

a) Israel is perceived as a 'liberal, western, democracy' and therefore 'more civilized'. Well, they are not. They neither have a constitution, nor, basic freedoms such as inter-religious marriage. Or, the requirement of equality, that is at the core of every western and non-western democracy that has a constitution. Neither is their behaviour with the Palestinians, remotely, civilized.

b) Some people are Jewish - Understandable. They are nationalistic.

c) People in the west do not want to or are afraid to be perceived as 'antisemitic' or be accused of 'antisemitism'- This is a classic case of 'white guilt'. White people, slaughtered Jews back during WW2. So now, they walk on egg shells around them, to the extent they believe that unwaveringly supporting Israel and its war crimes is necessary in order to appear pro-Jewish, lest they be accused of antisemitism. Israel and the pro-Israel lobby leverages this to great effect.

d) Racism and Xenophobia - It is easy to hate people who are poor and downtrodden, such as the Palestinians and to stereotype them as 'barbaric' and as 'savages' even if Israel is more barbaric and savage in their response. Aka, racism and/or xenophobia. People here, hate Muslims more, than they love Jews.

e) Political partisanship, or 'toeing the line' - Supporting the popular thing, because it is popular and more socially acceptable. The western media and governments are overwhelmingly pro-Israel. It is easier therefore to support what everyone else is supporting.

f) They are uninformed that prolonged military action, actually works against the goal of eradicating extremism. Meaning, they do not understand why extremism exists.

None of these are a good case, for the pro-Israel movement.
I'm not seeing a great case for supporting an ideology that stones gays to death either.

Maybe Western lefties should keep their noses out of other parts of the world.

Just like they do with Muslim against Muslim or African against African conflicts where there's no "cool factor" involved with demonstrating against a white, western backed regime.
 

Butler1000

Well-known member
Oct 31, 2011
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So it follows that the partisan pro-Israel movement, is one of white supremacy, racism and colonialism - ideals, that everyone should fight against. The pro-Palestinian movement, in that case, is morally correct and the pro-Israeli movement, is not.

The problem with the partisan pro-Israel movements, is that its proponents believe that military action can counter Islamic fundamentalism. If anything that the war on terror has taught us, it is precisely military action that enables them.

So why do they ignore information that already exists, and still support Israel's war crimes? For one or more of the following reasons:

a) Israel is perceived as a 'liberal, western, democracy' and therefore 'more civilized'. Well, they are not. They neither have a constitution, nor, basic freedoms such as inter-religious marriage. Or, the requirement of equality, that is at the core of every western and non-western democracy that has a constitution. Neither is their behaviour with the Palestinians, remotely, civilized.

b) Some people are Jewish - Understandable. They are nationalistic.

c) People in the west do not want to or are afraid to be perceived as 'antisemitic' or be accused of 'antisemitism'- This is a classic case of 'white guilt'. White people, slaughtered Jews back during WW2. So now, they walk on egg shells around them, to the extent they believe that unwaveringly supporting Israel and its war crimes is necessary in order to appear pro-Jewish, lest they be accused of antisemitism. Israel and the pro-Israel lobby leverages this to great effect.

d) Racism and Xenophobia - It is easy to hate people who are poor and downtrodden, such as the Palestinians and to stereotype them as 'barbaric' and as 'savages' even if Israel is more barbaric and savage in their response. Aka, racism and/or xenophobia. People here, hate Muslims more, than they love Jews.

e) Political partisanship, or 'toeing the line' - Supporting the popular thing, because it is popular and more socially acceptable. The western media and governments are overwhelmingly pro-Israel. It is easier therefore to support what everyone else is supporting.

f) They are uninformed that prolonged military action, actually works against the goal of eradicating extremism. Meaning, they do not understand why extremism exists.

None of these are a good case, for the pro-Israel movement.
Islamic fundamentalism is a form of Facism. Ask Neville Chamberlain how ignoring it worked out.

It will as likely end up as the opponent in the next World War as anything.
 

Frankfooter

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Frankfooter

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Probably since the time Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel, even after Israel left the area.

More idiotic strategy by Hamas.
How is ignoring the advice of Ben Gurion working for you?
Israel is apartheid, the two state solution is dead and Jews are the minority.
The only thing you're doing well with is genocide and turning Israel into the most hated country in the world.


 
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Frankfooter

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The big problem with that post is that Israel will never get rid of Hamas.
You'd do far better to negotiate.

Killing people is only making Israel hated.

Israel is killing aid workers.

Bombing hospitals won't win friends.

And now you've got Jewish Auschwitz survivors calling zionists 'Nazis'.
So much winning.

 
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Frankfooter

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The attraction of the anti Israel / pro Palestinian movement in the West is that it can be framed as support for downtrodden brown people against powerful whites. In a world where such causes are becoming increasingly difficult to find, it's probably the only game in town. (The West no longer colonizes Africa, no longer supports wars in Asia and Latin America and has liberalized laws directed against gays and women. The old demo heyday of the 60's and early 70's are long gone).

So the movement attracts hard left people - often fairly young - who are emotionally attracted to the idea of a "cause" and who are very low information - or even "no information". So they ignore the plain fact that Islamic fundamentalism - and even most Islamic societies in the Middle East - are extremely fucked up and nasty for emotional reasons.

The tee shirt icons of my youth - Che, Lenin, Fidel, Mao, etc - were pretty nauseating too. But we still liked them.
So why is Jewish supremacy ok but Islamic fundamentalism evil?
They are both stupid religious extremists.

These are 'doctors' in Israel?

Its time to decolonize, mandrill.
Settler colonialism is so 19th century.

This movement is attracting people who care about people all around the world.
 

Conil

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Apr 12, 2013
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From The National Post:

Do these people know who they are cheering for, and what would happen to them in Muslim countries?

Armin Navabi: Queers for Palestine's unholy alliance with Islamic fundamentalists
Opinion by Quillette • 11h

A woman holds a

On the morning of Oct. 7, the Palestinian terror group Hamas orchestrated a multi-pronged assault against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Their fighters breached the heavily fortified border and murdered more than 1,400 Israeli civilians, including young children. Here in the West, the political discourse surrounding these brutal events and the war that has come in their wake has been coloured by a misguided transposition of western identity politics onto the Middle East, which collapses all nuance and reduces a complex situation into a simple binary of oppressor versus oppressed.

Leftists in English-speaking nations tend to see Palestinians (including Hamas) as an oppressed, brown victim class, whose freedom-fighting “resistance” against their oppressive, white, U.S.-backed colonizers in Israel is a righteous cause with which to stand in solidarity. This facile view of the long-standing conflict in the Middle East leads to confused and contradictory thinking, as seen in the incoherent slogan (and now meme) “Queers for Palestine,” emblazoned on banners brandished at anti-Israel rallies.

“Queers for Palestine” attempts to meld LGBTQ+ advocacy with Palestinian liberation, a juxtaposition that has precipitated a whirlwind of criticism and ridicule , since LGBTQ+ rights scarcely exist within the Muslim world; and the Palestinian territories are no exception. The slogan has been widely satirized. Variations like “ Chickens for KFC ” and “ Blacks for the KKK ” highlight its proponents’ basic lack of awareness of just how incompatible the values of the western left are with those of the Islamic right they so readily champion.

The reality of the situation could not be starker. Though there is room for improvement in Israeli attitudes towards these issues, Israel is at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights in the Middle East. In Israel, LGBTQ+ people are visible members of society with legal protections and civil rights, and are accepted by a plurality of its citizens.

Palestine is quite a different story. A 2021 report on LGBTQ+ acceptance by UCLA’s Williams Institute rated Israel 44th out of the 175 countries/territories it examined. Palestine came in at number 130, behind Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Georgetown University likewise placed Palestine 160th out of 170 countries on its women’s peace and security index, in company with most of the countries in that region. Amnesty International’s 2020 report on human rights highlights the fact that, in Gaza, male same-sex relationships are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and points out the conspicuous absence of legal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and harassment. This lack of civil rights has led hundreds of gay and bisexual Palestinians to flee to Israel to escape persecution . One such refugee, Ahmad Abu Marhia , a 25-year-old gay Palestinian man, was living under asylum in Israel when, in 2022, he was kidnapped and beheaded in the West Bank city of Hebron. His murderers uploaded footage of the killing to social media.

Every time these disparities are mentioned, critics are quick to lob accusations of “pinkwashing” — a concept invented to frame any discussion of Israel’s progressive stance on LGBTQ+ issues as a distraction from its mistreatment of Palestinians. But the fact remains that these “Queers for Palestine” could march in Pride parades in Israel if they wanted to. In Palestine, they’d be killed.

Another disconcerting element of “Queers for Palestine” is that the slogan popped up in prominent left-wing anti-Israel/pro-Palestine rallies in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s terrorist attacks, before Israel had even had the chance to respond. There is no way to interpret this slogan and the surrounding leftist fervour except as a signal of support not merely for Palestine, but specifically for Hamas, a jihadist movement with the explicit aim of eradicating the State of Israel. It’s imperative to understand that Hamas, as detailed in its 1988 Covenant, is propelled by a fundamentalist Islamist ideology whose goal is not only to eliminate all Jews but to conquer the world — just like ISIS. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar has stated on record , “The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors.”

Western support for Hamas, under the guise of support for Palestinian liberation, betrays an ignorance of the deep-seated radical Islamist ethos driving that organization, which, if left unchecked, would jeopardize the very freedoms cherished by LGBTQ+ people across the developed world. Anyone who doubts this should try being gay, bi or trans in most of the Middle East and North Africa’s Muslim-majority countries. Almost all these nations have laws that criminalize both homosexuality and transsexuality , some of which carry the death penalty . Human Rights Watch’s report “ Everyone Wants Me Dead ” succinctly encapsulates in its title alone the perilous environment faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in these regions.

Many on the western left, including the LGBTQ+ left, have become enamoured with critical social justice , through whose warped lens they perceive all of humanity as fitting into two classes: oppressors and oppressed. Armed with this simplistic, binary worldview, leftists gravitate toward perceived liberation movements for other so-called oppressed groups. This narrow prism obscures the universalist ideology of Islamism espoused by groups like Hamas, which under a facade of anti-imperialist rhetoric, harbours a brutal dogma that is antithetical to the liberties and rights championed by LGBTQ+ activists. No matter how much they complain about “pinkwashing,” they can’t conceal the absurd irony of this situation, in which folks who believe in LGBTQ+ liberation are cheerleading ideological movements from which they would flee as refugees were they to live under such regimes.

To be sure, the Palestinian people have endured more than their fair share of suffering, and it’s easy to see how the Palestinian resistance narrative can carry the allure of righteous rebellion, especially for those factions of the hard left that aspire to dismantle liberal society. The vicarious thrill of romanticized revolution leads some to go far beyond simply advocating for the Palestinian people to expressing solidarity with Hamas, ignoring the jihadist ideology at the core of that organization. The followers of this ideology are oppressing LGBTQ+ Palestinians at this very moment. Given half a chance, they would oppress the very leftists now voicing support for the Palestinian cause. And, indeed, this has happened before.

The aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran is a harrowing tale. Leftists were tortured and executed en masse by the very Islamic regime they supported for the sake of their anti-imperialist goals; many Iranians who aligned with leftist organizations supported the revolution only to find themselves persecuted by Islamists they helped put in power.

Immediately following the revolution, the new regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini began systematically oppressing LGBTQ+ people and publicly executing them by the thousands . These atrocities were justified as a means of “eliminating corruption” and preventing the “contamination” of society. Between 4,000 and 6,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual people have been executed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s legal system, rooted in Islamic law, criminalizes consensual sexual relations between same-sex individuals, with penalties ranging from lashes to death. Iranian law does not distinguish between consensual and non-consensual same-sex intercourse; allowing authorities to prosecute both perpetrators and victims of sexual assault.

Images of gay and bi men hanged from cranes so that they slowly suffocate to death serve as grim reminders for anyone interested in human rights: align with Islamic fundamentalists at your peril.
The phenomenon of “Queers for Palestine,” and the realities it glosses over, underscore the need for a more informed and discerning discourse — a discourse that transcends catchy slogans and moral binaries and delves into the complex, often discordant ideologies at play in the Israel-Palestine conflict. That way, we can advocate for a better future without bolstering forces antithetical to liberal values, and without betraying LGBTQ+ people by undermining their very rights and freedoms. We can’t do that if we overwrite the complicated dynamics of a 75-year foreign conflict with our own provincial identity politics.

Armin Navabi is an ex-Muslim atheist, author and podcaster. He is the founder of Atheist Republic, co-host of the podcast Secular Jihadists and the author of “Why There Is No God” (2014).


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They throw them off the buildings. In Iran they hang them. How stupid, I find it hard to believe they don't understand it.
 

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Another representative of the religion of peace

Muslim Influencer Calls for the Genocide of His Hindu Countrymen, Hopes They Are Slaughtered Like the 'Jews and Israeli Dogs' (Video)


Arif Nashriyaat is known for indoctrinating his Muslim audience to pick up weapons for the cause of jihad and kill all non-Muslim citizens living in India, which includes millions of Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs.
As Islamic Jihadis worldwide are celebrating and proudly rejoicing at gruesome incidents of rapes and beheadings carried out by Hamas against Jews and Israelis, a disturbing and dangerous trend is emerging in India. Muslims within the country are making similar genocidal calls and inciting similar violence against the Hindu community, raising concerns about growing religious tensions and security threats.

In a now-viral video clip circulating on social media, Arif Nashriyaat, a self-proclaimed ‘public figure’ and a Muslim extremist from India, expressed his support and admiration for the actions of Hamas. His inflammatory rhetoric is causing alarm and highlighting a troubling trend within the country.

Nashriyaat’s video opens with him thanking Allah for granting his Holy Warriors the “Muslim brothers of Palestine” over the”Israeli dogs.” His inflammatory language not only targets Israelis but also threatens Hindus in India. He draws parallels between the two communities, suggesting that the fate of Hindus in India could be similar to what he perceives as the plight of Palestinians. He goes on to call upon Indian Muslims to take up arms and rise against their Hindu compatriots.
The transcript of the video reveals Nashriyaat’s message:
Allah has given a big victory to the Muslim brothers of Palestine. Those dogs of Israel who used to beat Muslim brothers in Masjid Al-Aqsa until yesterday, made widows out of mothers and orphans out of children. They laid the corpses of these innocent children and wanted to snatch Masjid Al-Aqsa. Allah has conveyed a message to all those Jews and Israeli dogs in just one day, illustrating how Allah supports Muslims. In accordance with the Quran, ‘You fight for Allah so that Allah punishes the oppressors through you, humiliates them, and helps you while cooling the hearts of the believers.’ The Muslims of Masjid Aqsa were engaged in a continuous struggle, facing oppression. Today, Allah has granted them substantial assistance, leaving the entire world astonished. It’s essential to remember those who sacrificed, such as Iqbal, Waris, and Nasir. InshaAllah, a day will come when Allah’s help will arrive, and every Sanghi, oppressor, and RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Party] worker in India will witness h
 
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