The presence of an openly gay protester on the latest Gaza flotilla raised hackles and open condemnation by Muslims on the journey, who abhorred the gay man’s sexuality as offensive to Islam.
Yet this is merely an unusually public exposure of the profound contradictions and hypocrisy of “Queers for Palestine” and other Western progressive causes that are openly disdained and even outlawed by Palestinians and hundreds of millions of other Muslims.
First, let’s be clear: Homosexuality is explicitly outlawed and severely punished, often by death, in Palestinian society, especially in Gaza.
How then can intelligent LGBTQ+ college students, as well as other varieties of progressive activists, in all good conscience support a movement that not only opposes one of their core lifestyle preferences, but that also regularly persecutes and even brutally kills them?
Unsurprisingly, these activists have an answer to this glaring dissonance: They are part of an “intersectional” coalition that objects above all to “massacre,” “genocide” and other manifestly false claims against Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war. Equally unsurprising, their explanations put them firmly in the category of “useful idiots” ... only more so.
Perhaps the greater question is, how can advocates for Israel and the truth argue with the twisted “logic” of progressive support for repressive Muslim social and political values?
Why Muslim flotilla activists decried the presence of Saif Ayadi, an openly gay man, as offensive to Islam. Flotilla activist Mariem Meftah argues that exploiting the “holy cause of Al-Aksa” for unrelated ideological purposes contradicts Islamic values, while Samir Elwafi, another activist, asserted that “Palestine is first and foremost the cause of Muslims ... why involve in it dubious activists serving other agendas ... such as homosexuality.” Elwafi also remarked, “What do you expect an Arab Muslim to think when he hears the slogans of the ‘queer’ movement within a flotilla launched in the name of his most sacred and central cause, only to see it degraded in this way?” In other words, what passes for progressive sexual diversity means deviancy to most Muslims.
How LGBTQ+ support for “Palestine” is contradictory and hypocritical. Hard fact: According to the Pew Research Center, 93% of Palestinians oppose homosexuality, making them among the world’s most anti-LGBTQ+ people. Forbes also named “Palestine” as one of the worst “countries” in the world for LGBTQ+ travelers.
Muslim nations globally are almost equally intolerant. According to Equaldex (Equality Index), which measures the progress of LGBTQ+ rights, the Muslim Middle East, with a population of more than half a billion people, is the least LGBTQ+-friendly region in the world. Homosexuality is illegal in all but seven Muslim majority states, out of more than 50.
Homosexuals in Palestinian society are criminals, facing severe punishment, often death. In territory under Palestinian Authority rule in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), the law mandates a 10-year prison sentence for homosexuality. In Hamas-controlled Gaza, homosexuality merits the death penalty. In fact, in 2016, the terrorist group executed Mahmoud Ishtiwi, one of its own senior commanders, by firing squad, for homosexual activity.
In another famous case, in 2022, Ahmad Abu Marhia, a 25-year-old gay man living under asylum in Israel, was kidnapped to the West Bank, then beheaded.
The U.N. Human Rights Council has reported on the dire plight of LGBTQ+ Palestinians, noting, “LGBTQ persons living under Palestinian Authority and Hamas control suffer severe persecution and ostracism ... forced marriages and death threats, among other things.”
Yet not only do anti-Israel LGBTQ+ activists support groups that commit such draconian cruelty to their own community, they are also completely silent about the persecution of Palestinian LGBTQ+ people by Hamas and the P.A.
How pro-Palestinian LGBTQ+ activists play the role of “useful idiots,” only more so. Vladimir Lenin coined the phrase “useful idiots” to describe ignorant intellectuals in Russia who supported the Communist revolution, despite the fact that once the revolutionaries took power, these naïve supporters would be the first executed. Similarly, LGBTQ+ activists see themselves as “oppressed” and cite their intersectional solidarity with Palestinians allegedly suffering “oppression,” genocide, starvation and “apartheid,” under Israel. Because these ignorant activists rely on such false accusations, which are factually and historically indefensible, they easily fit the “idiot” half of Lenin’s mocking phrase.
Why LGBTQ+ supporters of terrorism condemn Israel, their safest haven in the Middle East. Only by using an especially contorted “pretzel logic” can LGBTQ+ activists support their own enemies and also criticize Israel for its LGBTQ+ policies. They know, of course, that Israel offers greater sexual freedom and legal protection to LGBTQ+ people than any other Middle East nation.
The secret ingredient of this final hypocrisy is called “pinkwashing.” LGBTQ+ activists use this term to discredit anyone who calls out their contradiction of supporting vicious Muslim enemies of sexual freedom. “Pinkwashing,” they claim, is the apparently unfair tactic of citing Israel’s progressive stance on LGBTQ+ issues to distract from Israel’s alleged mistreatment of Palestinians.
Ironically, these “pinkwashing” accusers do not deny Israel’s unparalleled acceptance and protection of sexual freedom, including LGBTQ+ lifestyles, but rather criticize its “cover” for Palestinian oppression. One advocate condemns Israel’s efforts to brand itself as the Middle East’s most sexually permissive country, concluding that such PR is “not limited to proving how gay-friendly Israel is. Pinkwashing is also part of a strategy to dehumanize Palestinians.”
Yes, apparently telling the truth about the Palestinians’ LGBTQ+ repression and then comparing it to Israel’s liberal policies on sexual behavior is actually an inhuman attack on Palestinians.
How can pro-Israel advocates argue with the “logic” of pro-Palestinian LGBTQ+ activists? In short, don’t bother. LGBTQ+ support for Hamas and the Palestinians defies facts and logic. Their hearts ache for the plight of the Palestinians, though Palestinians would jail or kill them. This makes them useful idiots. Ironically, the Palestinians neither respect LGBTQ+ folk nor even accept their help. Which makes them not useful, but actually useless.
Progressives who ignore the facts and condemn Israel falsely for “genocide” and “starvation” are either ignorant or liars. But LGBTQ+ people who also support Muslim terrorists who kill people like them and even reject their support are not only idiots, they are also pathetic.
Originally published by Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME).
