Corey
Robin

I don’t think this one is too difficult. First, of course, defenders of Israel will ignore this issue and see if it goes away. It may well. But suppose it doesn’t. Then:

“Israel regrets the personal hardship that may result from its intelligence operations. This has nothing to do with bigotry, however. Above all, we should bear in mind that we are dealing with terrorists. By aligning themselves against Israel’s right to exist, and by participating in one of the greatest crimes of history, the continuing genocidal attack on Jews and their homeland, they are guilty of a much greater and more lethal bigotry. Criticisms of our courageous defense forces are nothing more than attempts to distract us from this fundamental truth.

“In addition, while we recognize that on occasion innocent people may run afoul of our intelligence work, it should be obvious that Israel’s values, which respect the human rights of all people, cannot be compared to the values of Hamas and its accomplices. Our laws are clear on the protection of civil rights; theirs violate these rights as a matter of ideology. We truly regret the human costs of our defense efforts, even as we know that our very existence is at stake, threatened by terrorists and haters of Jews. They openly embrace bigotry and cruelty. Any attempt at equivalence is simply dishonest.”

I feel like I could write this in my sleep.

“Now here comes news that the Israeli state is doing the same thing among Palestinians. It will be interesting to see how the people who were so rightly appalled by the Stasi’s recruitment of gays and lesbians to a repressive state apparatus—including Israel defenders like James Kirchick—and who routinely hold up Israel’s record on gays and lesbians as a measure of its freedom and democracy (critics of Israel call that “pinkwashing”) will rationalize this away.”

What is the current situation when supporters of Israel have to even criticize it, let alone condemn it, or give up their former principles? I’d place my money 100:1 on giving up principles.

I post this link from “Electronic Intifada” in reply to those people who may see Israeli willingness to blackmail Palestinian sexual minorities as the lesser evil against Hamas’ homophobia, as if the lesser evil derives from otherwise progressive tendency in Israeli political culture. A culture, we must note, which is one of settler colonialism that seeks the displacement of the indigenous population, and the kind of militaristic social infrastructure that facilitates this project.

alQaws issued a statement and it is cited in the EI article. Here is an excerpt from that statement, as it gets to the heart of the matter:

“This isolation of sexuality as a discrete site of oppression bolsters mainstream LGBT rights discourses which, historically, make this oppression legible only through the frame of purported Palestinian “homophobia” and Israeli “tolerance.”

“In this sense, singling out homosexuality strengthens pinkwashing and, in particular, the specific and false pinkwashing narrative of the queer Palestinian who must remain closeted within their community, living in secret, always worried about being outed, and looking to Israel as the all-powerful, all-knowing entity capable of protecting their queer life and rendering it intelligible. Falling prey to this logic only entrenches a false, racist binary that actively frames Palestine and Palestinians as homophobic versus Israel and Israelis as sexually tolerant and liberal.”

And another, if it ain’t clear enough:

“Finally, Israel is interested in portraying itself as positive, progressive, liberal, and democratic by, on the one hand, expressing its support for LGBT rights/people and, on the other, by presenting itself as queer Palestinians’ savior. Within this strategy, if Palestinians are going to have any access to or practice of “non-normative sexualities,” Israel is going to make sure it is somehow involved, so it can control and marshal those people and behaviors to serve its own interests.

“This is true whether it is exploiting occupied people’s fears in order to make them collaborators or taking credit for progressive politics within Palestine vis-a-vis sexuality. However, it’s important not to lose sight of the big picture: the issue of queer Palestinian collaborators is not about (homo)sexuality any more than it is about being progressive. It’s about colonization.”

Bam!

I will add no comment of my own, except to say “check it out” (the article, with the alQaws statement embedded therein): http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/dont-single-out-homosexuality-response-israel-blackmail-revelations-palestinians