If you listen closely beyond the sounds of gun shots and grief, you’ll hear the voices involved in a different conflict in Palestine. This time it’s sexual politics.
On March 28 in Haifa, Aswat held the first public conference for Palestinian lesbians to mark its fifth anniversary.
The Associated Press report hailed the participants’ defiance of sexual taboos, especially in the face of “Islamist” protests. While much space was devoted to explain the participants’ views, the “Islamist” protestors were given a whitewashed depiction at best. They were simply described as women wearing “headscarves and long, loose robes” as though their ideology can be derived from their dress.
The AP report depicted the Israeli part of Haifa, where the conference was held, as more tolerant of homosexuality than Israeli-Arab towns. Yet the story remarkably failed to address the reactions of Christian and Orthodox Jewish groups to the conference.
Most media reports failed to note that skepticism about the conference and Aswat’s activism does not stem from perceived Islamic homophobia. Rather, there is some Arab concern about potential Israeli support of the Palestinian lesbian movement and how it can cause divisions within the Palestinian community. According to Albawaba website the International Committee for LGBT Human Rights has asked Israeli authorities and religious groups to provide security and protection during the conference.
It’s doubtful that Aswat can win the hearts and minds of the Palestinian/Arab/Muslim communities given this potential alliance.
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