Homophobia in Palestine
It is alleged that 'harassment of gays' is 'practically official policy' in the State of Palestine. The victims are frequently called collaborators and accused as such. However, there have also been two cases in the last three years where people have been specifically accused of homosexuality. In the wake of the ‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’, Sharia courts have also been set up where homosexuals are threatened with the death penalty by stoning, burning and hanging. These courts also declare persons suspected of homosexuality to be ‘outlaws’, who can be murdered with impunity. It is also reported that the Palestinian police regularly inflicts appalling torture on homosexuals. In Gaza, homosexual sex has been outlawed since 1936, and in the Occupied territories generally, queer and trans identities continue to be subjects of intense debate in public life, as well as targets of anti-LGBTQ+ violence and persecution. But these retorts fail to acknowledge that international queer solidarity with Palestinians is nothing new, and that LGBTQ+ Palestinians have long been fighting for their rights as queer people alongside their freedom as Palestinians. Dr. Sa'ed Atshan, a professor of Anthropology and Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College, has spent much of his life and career thinking through these issues. His 2020 book Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique is a close look at the necessity of connecting the struggle for Palestinian freedom with the struggle against homophobia and transphobia within the occupied territories.
We asked Dr. Atshan for his perspective on the rise in queer solidarity with Palestinians, the arguments against it, and how to make sense of the current moment.
Where the Queer solidarity movement with Palestine fits in this landscape is that there’s a long, long history of queer solidarity with Palestine in the U.S., in Europe, and around the world, but the queer Palestinian movement was born in the early 2000s, and has become transnational and has only increased over time. But now, I think, given the horror of what Israel is doing in Palestine, specifically in Gaza, I believe that it’s very, very clear that we are witnessing a resurgence of global queer solidarity with Palestinians. homophobia is not unique to Palestinian society. It exists in most parts of the world, including in Israeli society, as well as here in the United States. It's a near-universal phenomenon, unfortunately.
Homophobia, transphobia, Heteronormativity, patriarchy, sexism, gender and sexuality-based violence; these are realities that we have to grapple with all around the world. It's very dangerous to pathologize Palestinian society as uniquely homophobic or that homophobia is endemic to the society without this broader context, as well as without understanding the ways that life under brutal military occupation exacerbates homophobia within Palestinian society as well. In order for us to deal with questions of how queer people are treated in Palestine, we have to address the broader landscape of the denial of freedom to Palestinians more generally speaking.
I also think that it’s racist, in my opinion, to argue that the struggle against racism that’s directed against Palestinians should somehow be halted or undermined because there's homophobia within Palestinian society. Not only does it erase the existence of queer Palestinians, who themselves are subjected to both homophobic violence and racialized violence, it also renders invisible the history of LGBTQ activism within Palestinian society. But if you think about how Palestinians get exceptionalized… There’s this kind of exception when it comes to the oppression of Palestinians; the oppression that we face gets normalized and even justified. We can recognize such dehumanizing rhetoric when Palestinians are portrayed merely as perpetrators of homophobia and/or violence or when Palestinians are victim-blamed for the systemic oppression they face. This pink washing is also invested in erasing Palestinians altogether or not representing Palestinians as a multi-dimensional society with a just struggle for freedom.
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