URGENT APPEAL: Reject Israeli LGBT Groups’ Bid & Cancel their Membership
Dear ILGA World Board Members,
It came to our attention at alQaws, Queers in Palestine, and Ballroom Palestine, that Israeli LGBTIQ groups with the support of the Tel Aviv municipality have submitted a bid to host ILGA World Conference in 2026 or 2027 (see document attached). After further investigation, we were surprised to learn that ILGA World has several Israeli LGBT organizations as members. All these organizations have been active in aiding and abetting the genocide and displacement of the Palestinian people. Your recent statement that the Israeli bid for the ILGA conference is simply part of ILGA's business as usual disregards the larger conditions in which this bid is made, namely the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people. LGBTQ organizations complicit in genocide and human rights violations have no place in ILGA and must be suspended. Israeli LGBTQ organizations have a long history of complicity in the Zionist colonial project, pinkwashing, and genocide.
alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity has worked inside historic Palestine since 2001 as the leading LGBTIQ Palestinian national organization. It has led various community and advocacy initiatives that have changed the realities of our queer communities and challenged our society. We have also been involved in exposing how Israel is using sexual and gender diversity to pinkwash its image and divert attention from its colonial project and war crimes against the Palestinian people and land.
The Israeli state would not have been able to pinkwash its crimes without the aid of Israeli LGBTQ groups. These groups work closely with the Israeli government, army, intelligence institutions, and local municipalities. They have co-developed pinkwashing as a colonial tool by promoting racist myths about Palestinian society, framing Palestinian queers as victims of our “supposedly homophobic” society, and participating actively in destroying and erasing our queer movement.
As part of their erasure, Israeli LGBTIQ groups have built projects dedicated to Palestinian queers seeking “asylum” inside Israel. These groups pose as if they provide safe shelter and legal services. However, during COVID-19, alQaws learned that these projects are run in cooperation with the Israeli intelligence forces, an institution that is responsible for blackmailing thousands of Palestinians and setting them up for deportation and displacement. LGBTIQ Israel groups actively recruit and convince Palestinian queer youth they can help them despite colonial realities that prevent Palestinians from having any legal status in Israel. We also witnessed how Israeli groups neglected their promises, and throw queer youth to the streets, or in the arms of their gay friends frequently resulting in abuse, sexual assault, and more.
The pinkwashing project led by the Israeli government and Israeli LGBTIQ groups has had a tremendous negative impact on our society and all our efforts to locally and organically fight transphobia, homophobia, and patriarchy. The Israeli LGBTIQ groups’ propaganda of “saving queer Palestinians” links queer Palestinians to our colonizer and reinforces our society’s negative attitudes harming our two decades of community organizing and advocacy work. In the last year, Israeli LGBTIQ groups publicly supported the genocide against our people. They led social media campaigns expressing their commitment to taking part in the Israeli killing machine by being proud soldiers.
Having worked against our struggle by promoting pinkwashing and harmful projects for so many years is one thing, and having the audacity, in the middle of a live-streamed genocide in Palestine and Lebanon, to claim an international space is another thing. Promoting Tel Aviv which is 70 km away from Gaza as a gay haven and a space for international celebration is not only ignorance or denial but an intentional PR campaign to erase their active role in producing and supporting genocide. Now is the time for ILGA World to reject any association with LGBT Israeli groups or the promotion of “gay haven Tel Aviv.” ILGA cannot claim to be fighting for gay rights when it actively collaborates and includes organizations complicit in genocide. This does not only go against any ethical or moral standards but also against international law as Israel and its institutions continue to disregard the ICJ order. IGLA cannot claim to call for a ceasefire while working with organizations that support the Israeli army.
It is deeply cynical that Israeli groups get to participate in a bid for the next ILGA Assembly during your conference in South Africa - a country with a long history of racial and genocidal violence, and anti-apartheid struggle. We believe the conference could instead be a good opportunity to truly connect to human rights and the anti-apartheid legacies and refuse to let Israel participate in a bid for the assembly and cancel the membership of Israeli organizations complicit in genocide.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that in 2011, we had a positive experience with IGLYO when it canceled its general assembly in Tel Aviv due to our campaign and direct pressure from its member organizations. Building on this precedent, we look forward to your response to our letter by October 28, 2024. We remain open to discussing our request further, should you find it helpful. However, suppose ILGA World chooses not to engage with our request, we reserve the right to reach your member organizations and use media platforms to bring more attention to this matter and seek a resolution.
We are aware that your board suppressed, back in 2023 an initiative inside ILGA to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and stand against genocide. We learned about silencing partners due to that and working to cancel this initiative. We hope this letter gives ILGA and your members a second chance to be on the right side of history and refuse to be complicit with genocide and war crimes.
Looking forward to hearing back from you,
alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity
Ballroom Palestine
CC:ed:
ILGA World board members, chairs, and director