Aswat — Queer feminist movement in Palestine salutes the efforts of our brothers and sisters in Delhi, and congratulates you on a decade of work and activism.
Aswat (which means Voices) was established in 2003 to provide safe, supportive and empowering spaces for Palestinian queer women, who face multiple forms of oppression- as Palestinians struggling against occupation, Apartheid and settler colonialism; as women in a militaristic and chauvinist society; as LGBTQI's in the context of Pinkwashing and homophobia.
Entrenched in the struggle against Israel's occupation of Palestine, the struggle of Palestinian queers is not only a struggle against social injustice, but against Israel’s colonisation, occupation and apartheid.
Therefore, Aswat believes in the intersectionality of our struggles and works to unite Feminism, Queerism, and non-violent resistance to ll forms of oppression into one monumental struggle.
Palestinian queers face the same universal challenges of LGBTQI's, but unique to the context of Israel/ Palestine is Israel's use and abuse of its Pinkwshing Strategy.
Pinkwashing is a deliberate strategy used by Israeli government, its agencies and many members of the Israeli LGBT community topromote Israel's relatively progressive stance on gay rights, thereby deflecting international attention from its gross violations of international law and daily suppression of human rights and civic liberties.
Pinkwashing is particularly dangerous because it does not only “praise” Israel for its gay rights, but it also aims to portray a false image of the Palestinian as barbaric, homophobic, and backwards.
Therefore, today we ask you to stand in solidarity with all Palestinians, and not confined your support to Palestinian queers, because as Martin Luther King said once:”'Non of us is free until we are all free”.
Aswat calls upon our allies in Delhi and elsewhere in India to be in active solidarity with all Palestinians and to support the Palestinian led Boycott Divestment and Sanctions call until Israel complies with international law and the three demands of the Palestinian people:
1) Ending its occupation and colonisation of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
2) Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality
3) Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.
