Love, Rage and the Occupation, Part 3: the JOH protest vigil (2006)

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Love, Rage and the Occupation: Bisexual Politics in Israel/Palestine – Part 1
Love, Rage and the Occupation, Part 2: Queeruption (2006)


Second story (2006): the JOH protest vigil

In that summer, the Jerusalem pride march was canceled.

Jerusalem Pride became a hotly contested territory three years after its inception. From 2002 and until 2004, it ran annually, relatively smoothly and with few negative side effects. However, the parade came to national attention in 2005, when a single terrorist (an orthodox Jew) stabbed three of the attendants with a knife, with intent to kill. (Interestingly enough, the person who jumped the perpetrator and caused his arrest, was one of the Jerusalem bisexual activists). When, one year later, the Jerusalem Open House1 had started organizing an international pride parade in Jerusalem (under the ironic title of “Love Without Borders”2), a city dominated by religious populations sprouted a hitherto-unforeseen coalition between the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities not to let us dirty perverts march in “their” city. The police’s official reason for denying permission to march was… the Lebanon war, deciding it was “unsafe” to march at such a time.

Previous years: The pink black block in Jerusalem Pride. Credit: Oren Ziv

Continue reading →

Source: radicalbi.wordpress.com

Love, Rage and the Occupation, Part 2: Queeruption (2006)

Remember I posted about my article Love, Rage and the Occupation, which got published on Journal of Bisexuality? So, I discovered that I can put the text on my blog without breaching copyrights. Now everyone can read it for free. Hooray!

Since this article is very long, I’m going to be posting it in parts over the next few weeks. This is part 2 out of maybe 8-9, so stay tuned for further updates.

Previous:
Love, Rage and the Occupation: Bisexual Politics in Israel/Palestine – Part 1

Firststory(2006):Queeruption

My story begins in one of the critical moments in the history of queer anti-occupation activism in Israel1, one that many of us now recall as a seminal moment in our personal histories as activists. This was the summer of 2006. Black Laundry, the first queer group decidedly working against the occupation, had just finished dying out only a year beforehand, and I never got to be a member. (By the time I had heard of their existence – thinking, for the first time in my life: “Oh my god! There are others who think like me!” – they had already begun to disperse. Later on I heard that even had I known of their existence on time, I couldn’t have joined – they refused to accept bisexuals [a policy which some claim later changed]). Continue reading →

Source: radicalbi.wordpress.com

Love, Rage and the Occupation: Bisexual Politics in Israel/Palestine – Part 1

Remember I posted about my article Love, Rage and the Occupation, which got published on Journal of Bisexuality? So, I discovered that I can put the text on my blog without breaching copyrights. Now everyone can read it for free. Hooray!

Since this article is very long, I’m going to be posting it in parts over the next few weeks. This is part 1 out of maybe 8-9, so stay tuned for further updates.

Love, Rage and the Occupation: Bisexual Politics in Israel/Palestine

Introduction: who I am and why I’m writing

My name is Shiri. I’m 28 years old at the time of this writing [I wrote this last year], I live in Israel/Occupied Palestine, and have been an activist on feminist, queer, anti-occupation and animal rights issues for nearly seven years now. I’ve been a bisexual activist for almost three years. This text tells my story as a bisexual activist, and through it, I hope, also the story of the bisexual movement in Israel so far. In addition, I hope to show my readers the strands of Israeli militarism and its culture of violent and racist occupation of Palestine and the Palestinian people, which weave through all of our lives and all of our experiences here. With this I hope to achieve two things: firstly, to deconstruct the false separation between the two fields of “LGBT rights”1 and anti-war activism, emphasizing connections between oppressed groups and their struggles; secondly, to promote the principles of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, encouraging actions of solidarity with the Palestinian people and non-violent struggle against the Israeli occupation.2Continue reading →

Source: radicalbi.wordpress.com

farhaaan: israelfacts: On This Day — December 27, 2008: Israel started its bombing campaign on Gaza without warning, killing 1,400 Palestinians in total — more than 300 of whom were children — in the space of 22 days. Palestinian armed groups responded, killing 3 Israeli civilians and 6 Israeli soldiers. Israel stated that the aim of their mission — also known as Operation Cast Lead — was to halt rocket fire from Gaza, despite provoking Hamas by killing 6 of their members in a raid that ended a four-month ceasefire. Photo: A Palestinian girl wounded by an Israeli airstrike during Operation Cast Lead screams as she is carried into the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, January 1, 2009. (Getty Images) I think it’s important to note that no Hamas rockets were fired during the ceasefire.  Also, the ratio of Palestinian children (not even including adults) dead with Israeli civilians = 100:1.
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farhaaan:

israelfacts:

On This Day — December 27, 2008: Israel started its bombing campaign on Gaza without warning, killing 1,400 Palestinians in total — more than 300 of whom were children — in the space of 22 days. Palestinian armed groups responded, killing 3 Israeli civilians and 6 Israeli soldiers.

Israel stated that the aim of their mission — also known as Operation Cast Lead — was to halt rocket fire from Gaza, despite provoking Hamas by killing 6 of their members in a raid that ended a four-month ceasefire.

Photo: A Palestinian girl wounded by an Israeli airstrike during Operation Cast Lead screams as she is carried into the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, January 1, 2009. (Getty Images)

I think it’s important to note that no Hamas rockets were fired during the ceasefire. 

Also, the ratio of Palestinian children (not even including adults) dead with Israeli civilians = 100:1.

(via tamaulipana)

Source: israelfacts

“We teach life, sir”. Spoken word by Palestinian poet and activist Rafeef Ziadah.

Watch this.

laceandcombatboots: israelfacts: The “Jews Say No” movement held a protest in Upper Manhattan expressing their opposition to the recent air attacks by Israel on the Gaza strip. Protesters stood silently, holding posters and placards which voiced their concerns. New York, USA. 22nd August 2011 (Demotix Images) I’ve always struggled to reconcile my Judaism with my feelings on Israel. My grandfather fought for Israel’s independence, he was in charge of the defense of Exodus, he helped thousands of Jews emigrate from war-torn Europe. He was friends with fucking Golda Meir. And I loved him unreservedly. He was the kindest, most generous man I’ve ever known. He lavished me with gifts, he’d order every dessert off the menu when out with family, just for the hell of it. And yet he lived very humbly, and wore the same clothes every day. He was like a cartoon character- an entire closet full of the same shirts and pants. And he devoted so much of himself, his life, to the founding and preservation of Israel. He’d endured beatings, imprisonment, prejudice. I don’t know what I’m getting at. I guess, because he meant so much to me and because Israel meant so much to him, I have a hard time separating the two. Plus, HALF of the world’s Jews live in Israel, and three-quarters of the Israeli population is Jewish. There are a LOT of valid criticisms against the country of Israel, but it is sometimes connected with anti-semitism (obviously, not in this instance). Jews make up less than 1% of the world population… to think of how volatile the Middle East is right now, and how many live there… it’s a scary thing. I love these pictures. As an Israeli, I feel that these people are showing true solidarity with me, and with everyone else living here who cares about this place and who is fighting to end the occupation, siege and apartheid against the Palestinians. For me, caring about this little patch of land and the people inside it doesn’t mean supporting Israel and its governments’ militarist and oppressive regimes, it means resisting them. (Note that I intentionally don’t say that I care about Israel. The existence of the state is something I have little concern about: I care about people, not countries.)
Zoom Info
laceandcombatboots: israelfacts: The “Jews Say No” movement held a protest in Upper Manhattan expressing their opposition to the recent air attacks by Israel on the Gaza strip. Protesters stood silently, holding posters and placards which voiced their concerns. New York, USA. 22nd August 2011 (Demotix Images) I’ve always struggled to reconcile my Judaism with my feelings on Israel. My grandfather fought for Israel’s independence, he was in charge of the defense of Exodus, he helped thousands of Jews emigrate from war-torn Europe. He was friends with fucking Golda Meir. And I loved him unreservedly. He was the kindest, most generous man I’ve ever known. He lavished me with gifts, he’d order every dessert off the menu when out with family, just for the hell of it. And yet he lived very humbly, and wore the same clothes every day. He was like a cartoon character- an entire closet full of the same shirts and pants. And he devoted so much of himself, his life, to the founding and preservation of Israel. He’d endured beatings, imprisonment, prejudice. I don’t know what I’m getting at. I guess, because he meant so much to me and because Israel meant so much to him, I have a hard time separating the two. Plus, HALF of the world’s Jews live in Israel, and three-quarters of the Israeli population is Jewish. There are a LOT of valid criticisms against the country of Israel, but it is sometimes connected with anti-semitism (obviously, not in this instance). Jews make up less than 1% of the world population… to think of how volatile the Middle East is right now, and how many live there… it’s a scary thing. I love these pictures. As an Israeli, I feel that these people are showing true solidarity with me, and with everyone else living here who cares about this place and who is fighting to end the occupation, siege and apartheid against the Palestinians. For me, caring about this little patch of land and the people inside it doesn’t mean supporting Israel and its governments’ militarist and oppressive regimes, it means resisting them. (Note that I intentionally don’t say that I care about Israel. The existence of the state is something I have little concern about: I care about people, not countries.)
Zoom Info
laceandcombatboots: israelfacts: The “Jews Say No” movement held a protest in Upper Manhattan expressing their opposition to the recent air attacks by Israel on the Gaza strip. Protesters stood silently, holding posters and placards which voiced their concerns. New York, USA. 22nd August 2011 (Demotix Images) I’ve always struggled to reconcile my Judaism with my feelings on Israel. My grandfather fought for Israel’s independence, he was in charge of the defense of Exodus, he helped thousands of Jews emigrate from war-torn Europe. He was friends with fucking Golda Meir. And I loved him unreservedly. He was the kindest, most generous man I’ve ever known. He lavished me with gifts, he’d order every dessert off the menu when out with family, just for the hell of it. And yet he lived very humbly, and wore the same clothes every day. He was like a cartoon character- an entire closet full of the same shirts and pants. And he devoted so much of himself, his life, to the founding and preservation of Israel. He’d endured beatings, imprisonment, prejudice. I don’t know what I’m getting at. I guess, because he meant so much to me and because Israel meant so much to him, I have a hard time separating the two. Plus, HALF of the world’s Jews live in Israel, and three-quarters of the Israeli population is Jewish. There are a LOT of valid criticisms against the country of Israel, but it is sometimes connected with anti-semitism (obviously, not in this instance). Jews make up less than 1% of the world population… to think of how volatile the Middle East is right now, and how many live there… it’s a scary thing. I love these pictures. As an Israeli, I feel that these people are showing true solidarity with me, and with everyone else living here who cares about this place and who is fighting to end the occupation, siege and apartheid against the Palestinians. For me, caring about this little patch of land and the people inside it doesn’t mean supporting Israel and its governments’ militarist and oppressive regimes, it means resisting them. (Note that I intentionally don’t say that I care about Israel. The existence of the state is something I have little concern about: I care about people, not countries.)
Zoom Info
laceandcombatboots: israelfacts: The “Jews Say No” movement held a protest in Upper Manhattan expressing their opposition to the recent air attacks by Israel on the Gaza strip. Protesters stood silently, holding posters and placards which voiced their concerns. New York, USA. 22nd August 2011 (Demotix Images) I’ve always struggled to reconcile my Judaism with my feelings on Israel. My grandfather fought for Israel’s independence, he was in charge of the defense of Exodus, he helped thousands of Jews emigrate from war-torn Europe. He was friends with fucking Golda Meir. And I loved him unreservedly. He was the kindest, most generous man I’ve ever known. He lavished me with gifts, he’d order every dessert off the menu when out with family, just for the hell of it. And yet he lived very humbly, and wore the same clothes every day. He was like a cartoon character- an entire closet full of the same shirts and pants. And he devoted so much of himself, his life, to the founding and preservation of Israel. He’d endured beatings, imprisonment, prejudice. I don’t know what I’m getting at. I guess, because he meant so much to me and because Israel meant so much to him, I have a hard time separating the two. Plus, HALF of the world’s Jews live in Israel, and three-quarters of the Israeli population is Jewish. There are a LOT of valid criticisms against the country of Israel, but it is sometimes connected with anti-semitism (obviously, not in this instance). Jews make up less than 1% of the world population… to think of how volatile the Middle East is right now, and how many live there… it’s a scary thing. I love these pictures. As an Israeli, I feel that these people are showing true solidarity with me, and with everyone else living here who cares about this place and who is fighting to end the occupation, siege and apartheid against the Palestinians. For me, caring about this little patch of land and the people inside it doesn’t mean supporting Israel and its governments’ militarist and oppressive regimes, it means resisting them. (Note that I intentionally don’t say that I care about Israel. The existence of the state is something I have little concern about: I care about people, not countries.)
Zoom Info

laceandcombatboots:

israelfacts:

The “Jews Say No” movement held a protest in Upper Manhattan expressing their opposition to the recent air attacks by Israel on the Gaza strip. Protesters stood silently, holding posters and placards which voiced their concerns. New York, USA. 22nd August 2011 (Demotix Images)

I’ve always struggled to reconcile my Judaism with my feelings on Israel. My grandfather fought for Israel’s independence, he was in charge of the defense of Exodus, he helped thousands of Jews emigrate from war-torn Europe. He was friends with fucking Golda Meir.

And I loved him unreservedly. He was the kindest, most generous man I’ve ever known. He lavished me with gifts, he’d order every dessert off the menu when out with family, just for the hell of it. And yet he lived very humbly, and wore the same clothes every day. He was like a cartoon character- an entire closet full of the same shirts and pants.

And he devoted so much of himself, his life, to the founding and preservation of Israel. He’d endured beatings, imprisonment, prejudice.

I don’t know what I’m getting at. I guess, because he meant so much to me and because Israel meant so much to him, I have a hard time separating the two.

Plus, HALF of the world’s Jews live in Israel, and three-quarters of the Israeli population is Jewish. There are a LOT of valid criticisms against the country of Israel, but it is sometimes connected with anti-semitism (obviously, not in this instance). Jews make up less than 1% of the world population… to think of how volatile the Middle East is right now, and how many live there… it’s a scary thing.

I love these pictures.

As an Israeli, I feel that these people are showing true solidarity with me, and with everyone else living here who cares about this place and who is fighting to end the occupation, siege and apartheid against the Palestinians.

For me, caring about this little patch of land and the people inside it doesn’t mean supporting Israel and its governments’ militarist and oppressive regimes, it means resisting them.

(Note that I intentionally don’t say that I care about Israel. The existence of the state is something I have little concern about: I care about people, not countries.)

(via blacklaceandcombatboots)

Source: israelfacts

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