A group of about 20 students and Boston locals attended “Human Rights and LGBTQ Subjectivity in Israel-Palestine” Tuesday night at the Kenmore Classroom Building and listened to Atshan as he shared his insight on LGBTQ issues involving the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Atshan is a member of Al-Oaws, a national grassroots organization that works with LGBTQ Palestinians throughout Israel and disputed territories.
“There’s no pink door on this wall that says gay people can go through,” he said as he showed the audience a picture of a wall dividing Israeli and Palestinian territories.
Palestinians who seek to live in Israel, regardless of their sexual orientation, will have to endure a great deal of adversity, he said.
“Most of them are denied citizenship,” Atshan said. “Who they are allowed to marry is very regulated.”
Atshan said Palestinian plights continue to go on under the radar as Israel has focused on gaining support from the Western world by “pinkwashing” or advertising its pro-LGBTQ policies.
“Pinkwashing is the deliberate effort to try to distract attention away from human rights violations against Palestinians by portraying Israel as what they call a gay haven,” he said.
Atshan said pinkwashing involves the Israeli government’s claims that it provides refuge for LGBT Palestinians when it does not.
One component of the system of oppression involves using positive media spin as a way to cover up more negative elements of Israeli-Palestinian relations, said College of Arts and Sciences junior Zena Ozeir, president of Students for Justice in Palestine.
“This is just one of the facets of the occupation,” Ozeir said. “The backdrop of Israel as a safe haven for gay rights is used as a way to cover up other things.”
CAS senior Alec Nicholson noted the disturbing information the speaker shared, including the issue of pinkwashing.
“I wasn’t aware of the pinkwashing campaigns, and I found that fascinating and troubling,” he said.
Nicholson said while he learned a lot from the speaker, the issue of homophobia is an issue that affects everyone, not just Palestine.
“I think one of the points he made early about how homophobia was not [just] a Palestinian issue [was important],” he said. “It’s an issue everywhere . . . In his attempt to make it sound like Israel wasn’t a gay haven, he did not pay sufficient lip service to the fact that nor is Palestine a gay haven.”
CAS junior Joshua Niland said he found the speaker’s insight interesting.
“I thought [Atshan] was good. It was a good event; it was interesting. I think the Israel lobby in this country and on this campus has the benefit of the doubt on quite a number of things including the LGBTQ [issue],” he said, “and I think it’s important to show people that we care about these issues and not just one issue.”
CAS sophomore Matthew Goldberg, president of BU Students for Israel, said gay and lesbian Israelis share equal rights just like everyone else in Israel, more so than in the U.S.
“[Sexuality] is not confronted in the same way it is in the United States,” he said. “Tel Aviv was rated the number one best city in the world for being gay.”
BUSI Vice President Rachel Dushey said Palestinian culture does not look favorably upon homosexuality.
“Gay Palestinians run away from their homes and come into Israel and go into shelters,” Dushey, a College of Communication sophomore, said. “Israel welcomes these Palestinians who are fleeing persecution.”
CORRECTION: The post originally included a photograph taken during the lecture. It was requested at the beginning, however, that photographs and video not be taken. Out of respect for the participants’ request and for the legal protections provided by Boston University as a private institution, the photograph has been removed. Additionally, this article originally called Palestinians “citizens” even though Sa’ed Atshan said in the lecture that most Palestinians are denied citizenship. The word replaced by “Palestinians.” Lastly, the article now states that Ashtan described pinkwashing as the Israeli government’s emphasis of its pro-LGBT policies. In the lecture, he elaborated on the government’s claims of giving refuge to LGBT Palestinians, which he said is false. The definition of pinkwashing was given at length at the lecture, but not originally explained in the article.
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“Many are unaware of the harsh realities faced by LGBTQ Palestinian citizens” Citizens?! Many are not citizens but rather living under a brutal, seemingly endless military occupation!