Ahead of Tel Aviv Pride, queer activists bring the occupation home

[Israeli]

5. Enjoy ....

The truth is that the tourists who come to Tel Aviv won’t see images of Palestinians or the violence that has become part of our everyday life here on the posters put up by the Tourism Ministry. They won’t see the siege and destruction in Gaza, the thousands of Palestinian prisoners, the soldiers who come home with PTSD, or all the families who have paid and continue paying the price.

The colorful pamphlets handed out during the parade won’t include statistics on queer Palestinians from the occupied territories, who are barred from seeking asylum in Israel. The tourists won’t see anything about the murder at the Bar Noar LGBTQ center or the embarrassing way with which the police handled the case. They won’t see images from the “march of the beasts,” put on by Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Knesset who belongs to a party that is part of the coalition. Nor will they see Benzi Gopstein, a far-right activist who has yet to be investigated by police despite his incitement against the LGBTQ community prior to last year’s Jerusalem Pride Parade, where 16-year-old Shira Banki was murdered.

They also won’t hear about the fact that Unit 8200, one of the most elite unites in the Israeli army, reveals the sexual preferences of Palestinians in the occupied territories in order to blackmail them and recruit them as collaborators. This is our reality — this is what the most gay-friendly country in the Middle East does on a daily basis.

http://972mag.com/ahead-of-tel-aviv-pride-queer-activists-bring-the-occupation-home/119781/