Pinkwatching Israel - launched by queer Arab activists in 2010, operated as a hub for information sharing on Israeli efforts transform public perception of Israel from an Apartheid occupying power to a harmless, liberal, gay-friendly playground by juxtaposing this false image to a portrayal of Palestinian and Arab societies as backwards, repressive and intolerant.
Today, anti-pinkwashing activism is exploding everywhere. To build on this momentum propelled by the dynamism of groups such as Queers Against Israeli Apartheid in Toronto, QUIT in San Francisco, Helem in Lebanon, Al-Qaws in Jerusalem, Lambda in Istanbul, and others, Pinkwatching Israel and Palestinian Queers for BDS went back to the drawing board and revamped Pinkwatching Israel’s mission for a major comeback that fills one evident gap: to create a global web-movement promoting queer-powered calls against pinkwashing and pushing the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment Campaign against Israel to the forefront of the global queer movement.
Pinkwatching Israel brings together vibrant queer activists from around the world to imagine, visualize, create and launch campaigns, initiatives, events, and actions for BDS and against pinkwashing.
The disingenuous invocation of “LGBT rights” by Israel and its supporters to divert attention away from its atrocities against the Palestinians is increasingly becoming part of the public debate around Israel and Palestine. By falsely juxtaposing “oppressed gay Palestinians” with “liberated gay Israelis”, and by flattening out relations of power and the political realities of occupation and the Apartheid wall, pinkwashers aim to harness the global LGBT movement into supporting Israel at the expense of the Palestinians.
Pinkwatching Israel is a queer-powered global web-movement with the three goals:
We aim to do this by offering Pinkwatching Israel as an interactive platform where activists and groups around the globe can strengthen each other with tools, tactics, information, and strategies. Take a look at our Anti-Pinkwashing Toolkit, browse through our interactive timeline of queer BDS power (below), and read through our blog (coming soon) for analysis, articles, and commentary. Become a pinkwatcher (coming soon).
One thing we understood from the uprisings and revolutions sweeping the world this year is that now more than ever, we are all connected. The walls of fear have been broken. Together, we are fierce voices for justice in Palestine. And we are very, very pink.