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What I’ve Been Up To Lately
- mazel tov to @bluenatic and @grandstreet on the birth of their baby girl 2 weeks ago
- RT @JTownCrier: Tropper? Kolko? Margulies? Balkany? Dwek? Rubashkin? NO. Moetzes Gedolei Torah condemn AVI WEISS as more offensive. 2 weeks ago
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Queer Israeli activists paint Jerusalem's Davidka pink
Jerusalem: Queer protest against Israeli Independence Day
GoGay, April 23, 2007
Translation by Yossi Bartal
A group of queer activists painted pink the memorial canon in Jersualem’s “Davidka” square, and added the graffiti “Lesbians against arms” (which in Hebrew also translates as “Lesbians against dicks”). This act is meant as a protest against the occupation of Palestine and social gaps in Israel.
Yesterday night (Monday) an unidentified group of queer activists painted pink the old “Davidka” canon placed in the Jerusalem square bearing its name. The activists added a graffiti saying: “Lesbians against arms” (which in Hebrew also translates as “Lesbians against dicks”) as a protest against Israeli Independence Day. According to the group, one cannot celebrate Independence Day while Israel is occupying millions, and while millions of others live in Israel in poverty and hunger.
The group, which is defined by activists as “a subversive group of lesbians and queers against militarism and nationalism”, claims that “the State of Israel will not be free as long as it occupies another nation. An occupying State is a State which lives in violence and fear: a State that builds walls, sets boundaries, and turns its neighbours into enemies”.
“How can one celebrate independence, while the celebration depends on confining millions of Palestinians?” they asked. “How can one celebrate independence, while millions of people in Israel suffer hunger and poverty while corruption is rampant?”
The group claims that “cannons and tanks do not bring security and do not guarantee independence. True independence is economic safety, freedom from violence, sexual liberation and independence from nationalism”.
“What do lesbians have to do with resisting militarism and nationalism? Lesbians fight for freedom, liberation and independence. We know that a militarist and nationalist society is also a racist society, a chauvinist, homophobic, and violent society. This form of society”, they concluded, “hurts us all, especially disadvantaged people and minorities.”
Israeli dykes are simply the coolest. RESPECT!
I like the pink color. And the slogen is also witty.
But I wish they would think just a bit further and also inquire about the rights of lesbians in falestini society. They would come to the conclusion that the current situation is far from good – but that could be much worse, only a few k”m east.
That’s hilarious!
Do you have any idea what the Palestinians do to gays and lesbians in the Palestinian Authority? “Far from good” is an almost obscene understatement. Palestinian law prescribes the death penalty for them. In most cases, they are first raped (in the case of lesbians) and tortured; then killed, after which their bodies are mutilated and hung out in the streets.
àæ, what’s your point? does the extreme discrimination against homosexuals in palestinian society mean that homosexuals shouldn’t recognize the injustices committed by israel against palestinians?
jamaicans are probably the most homophobic people on earth–does that mean the world bank and the IMF were right to exploit jamaican laborers and to ravage the jamaican economy?
one injustice does not become justification for another injustice. and inshallah, perhaps seeing homosexuals stand up for their rights will encourage palestinians to be more tolerant of homosexuals.
and just so everyone knows, there is a kick-ass palestinian queer movement, which sees an end to the Occupation as a necessary first step of any struggle for queer liberation in palestine (just as quite a few jewish israeli queers do, given how integrally tied militarism, misogyny and homophobia are). Aswat – Palestinian Gay Women is a name to look out for.
and for the record, there was a lesbian bar in ramallah in 2001 – there still isn’t one in jerusalem, and i’m not sure whether there was one in tel aviv then. its building was bombed out by the israeli army in 2002.