Over the past few days, certain images have caught public attention in India—the queer pride flag in proximity with the Free Palestine slogan. On 19 November, an Australian cricket fan named Wen Johnson ran in the middle of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final in Ahmedabad wearing a T-shirt that read ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Stop Bombing Palestine’ holding the pride flag; on Sunday, at the Delhi Pride parade, marchers raised pro-Palestine slogans.
When you say ‘Free Palestine’, you are drawing attention to the Palestinian cause. But when you hashtag your campaign as ‘Queers for Palestine’, you are drawing more attention to the queer part of it than the Palestine part. Because you are trying to make a headline that says ‘even if you hate me, I support you’. You are making it all about yourself.
The slogan ‘Queers for Palestine’ originated from Western liberals who argue that Palestinians are a persecuted minority of colour. However, by showcasing “queer” support for the people of Palestine, they neither truly represent the community nor aid the Palestinian cause.
Queers for Palestine—Chicken for KFC?
On social media, ‘Queers for Palestine’ is also being equated to ‘Chicken for KFC’ — supporting your very own killer. The argument goes that the intersectionality between radical Islam and Homosexuality is ironic.
The Islamic world’s hatred for gays is widely known; kids are taught animated stories of Sodom and Gomorrah on YouTube. Homophobia is drilled into them, and hence being a queer person in countries with strict Islamic rule is any day hard. Palestine is no different.
Homosexuality has been legally forbidden in the Palestinian Authority since 1936, imposed by the British. Life continues to be harsh for queers living there; they can face beheading, brutal murder, the need to hide, fear kidnapping, or struggle to seek asylum in Israel.
Naturally, “Queers for Palestine” is irksome to some homosexuals who are subjected to persecution solely on the basis of Sharia, or those who despise religiosity that curtails their freedom even within the Palestinian Authority. Several Instagram accounts that hurl transphobic or vile homophobic comments are seemingly of bullies disguised as ‘commenters’—what’s common in these accounts is the Palestinian flag in their display picture and bio. So, a section of queer people would be deeply uncomfortable to be on the side of their bullies, so your opinion for Palestine is kind of an individual one and cannot be representative of the entire community.
Pride parades are representative of the community’s thought—fight against homophobia and factors that are supposed to unify all the LGBTQ+ members in one umbrella. Somehow “Queers for Palestine” doesn’t fit it well.
Why it doesn’t serve Palestinians
Of course, there is no denial to the fact that thousands of families in the Palestinian Authority deserve empathy. No one looks at ideologies of orphaned children and countless victims who had no fault of theirs; to have empathy is human. For a war-torn Palestinian, a support is a support—irrespective of whom it comes from.
But when you say ‘Queers for Palestine’, you make it more about queer and less about Palestine. The sole reason why ‘Queers for Palestine’ gets attention is because of the contrast it shares with the reality. What’s the difference between a heterosexual’s empathy and the one offered by a homosexual? One of these is not making it about their sexual identity while offering support.
When one offers empathy, it has to be unconditional. Imagine one of your haters loses their dear ones, you do not go and say “so even though you hate me, I still offer my condolences”. This sounds egotistic. The person at the receiving end is bound to feel uncomfortable. Of course, being an ironic statement, ‘Queers for Palestine’ will fetch a lot more attention than just “Save Palestine”.
As they say, charity is best done in silence. Your sexuality is of no consequence if you are offering genuine help.
Views are personal.