On December 11, Israeli official accounts posted an image showing two homosexual men, one of whom was on one knee proposing to his partner in a military uniform. The post stated: "Shmuel drove to the border to see his partner Dennis, a combat soldier and company commander. He then got down on one knee and proposed to him. Shmuel proposed with a ring from the “Adir's Diamond” project, in memory of Adir Messika who was murdered at the Nova Music Festival after saving 7 people. Adir’s father decided to honor his son’s memory, by sanctifying life, through couples who will build their own families.”
What is the significance of promoting support for homosexuality during Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip?
Gay Marriage Is Illegal in Israel
The post indicates to its readers that same-sex marriage is legal in Israel. The occupying state promotes its capital, Tel Aviv, as “The Gay Capital of the Middle East.” However, the reality is that although homosexual individuals have rights in Israel that do not exist in any other Middle Eastern country, same-sex marriage remains illegal. Israel has only recognizes same-sex marriages that were registered outside the country.
In 2006, Israel recognized same-sex marriages that were registered abroad.
Until 2018, the Israel Knesset opposed passing a law legalizing same-sex marriage, indicating a lack of complete acceptance within the local community toward the idea. Whereas Israeli official parties continue to advocate for the rights of gay people, especially for married couples. Currently, same-sex couples in Israel have adoption rights and access to alternative methods of reproduction.
By looking at the timeline in which Israel legalized homosexual people's rights, one finds that the first homosexual association was established in 1975. In 1988, with the onset of the “Gay Revolution," Israel canceled criminalizing homosexuality without officially recognizing same-sex marriages, eliminated discrimination against them in employment in 1992, and allowed them to join the army in 1993. Whereas the Supreme Court ruled to grant homosexual marital benefits in 1994. In 2002, the first openly gay member of the parliament was elected, and homosexual people were granted the right to adopt children in 2008. Finally, in 2011, Israel hired its first openly gay judge and hosted the largest gay parade in Asia that year, with a hundred thousand participants from all over the world.
Despite Israel's efforts in this regard, which come from the perspective of portraying itself as the most open-minded state regarding LGBTQ+ rights in the Middle East, exploiting the region's reservations on this matter. lately, Israel has been trying to “humanize” itself, especially during the current war on Gaza, which leads to practicing what is known as pinkwashing.
What is pinkwashing? And how does Israel use it to cover its aggression?
Israel Practices Pinkwashing During the Current Aggression on Gaza
Pinkwashing occurs when countries, companies, organizations, and parties support the LGBTQ community to whitewash their images and cover their crimes and human rights violations.
Israel utilizes pinkwashing to cover the fact that it is an occupying entity in the first place. During the current war on the Gaza Strip, which killed thousands of civilians, with the majority of women and children, the occupation state continues to promote its support of gay rights in an attempt to cover its aggression on Gaza.
On October 26, one day before the ground invasion operation, Business Insider published a photo of an Israeli soldier named Yoav Atzmoni in his uniform and holding the Israeli flag mixed with the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag, while Israeli tanks appear in the background.
During an interview with Business Insider, Atzmoni mentioned that he was called to serve in the Israeli army after the events of October 7 and he planned to raise the homosexual flag on his tank while fighting against Hamas, even though he acknowledged “this might make him a bigger target for militant attacks.”
Atzmoni expressed his concern that “Hamas's victory might regress the progress Israel has made in gay rights by many decades,” adding, “I will not let them imprison me again.”
The photo has gone viral on social media by accounts that support the occupation during November and garnered millions of views.
The Israeli association for gay rights, Aguda, published a video clip that was shared by many Israeli accounts featuring an LGBTQ+ Israeli activist. She stated,” We must all differentiate between innocent Palestinians and Hamas; Hamas is not a victim." Additionally, she described Hamas as “a terrorist organization that kills and tortures homosexual people and oppresses women." asserting that Hamas “does not want peace, freedom, or equal rights to anyone, especially homosexual people.”
Simultaneously, another photo went viral for the same soldier in the same month on social media accounts supporting the Israeli occupation. The image depicted Atzmoni holding the gay flag with the phrase “In the name of love” in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. It was claimed to be the first instance of a gay flag being raised in Gaza.
On another level, the Israeli propaganda proposed amendments to same-sex marriage laws, which entitle couples to benefit from the same benefits of soldiers’ widows. On November 6, the Israeli Knesset approved amending the article that limits state support to widows of married soldiers, to include partners of the same sex. Yorai Lahav Hertzano, an Israeli parliamentarian from the centrist Yesh Atid party, clarified that partners of hostages or missing persons could also benefit from this amendment, "regardless of their gender."
This decision came after the killing of Sagi Golan, a reserve soldier in an Israeli special unit, on October 7 in Kibbutz Be’eri during the first day of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood executed by Palestinian resistance in the settlements surrounding Gaza.
According to Israeli newspapers, Golan was killed a week after marrying his partner Omer Ohana. After his partner's death, Ohana advocated for equal rights for deceased gay couples in the military. His efforts led to the approval of the amendment by the Israeli parliament, just one month after Golan's passing.
Increase in the Number of Victims of the Israeli Aggression on Gaza
Since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, the number of Palestinian victims has increased to 18,412 people, while 50,100 have been reported injured, with 70% being women and children, according to the Ministry of Health updates.
Ashraf Al-Qudra, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, stated that health teams detected 326,000 cases of infectious diseases reported at health centers from shelters. This figure represents those who managed to reach health facilities, implying that the actual number could be considerably higher.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that, in recent days, the Israeli occupation forces committed nineteen massacres and genocides in residential areas and shelters, even in regions that were announced to be safe zones.
It indicated that the Israeli occupation deliberately targeted 137 hospitals, resulting in twenty-two hospitals and forty-six primary healthcare centers out of service. Furthermore, the occupation forces continue to detain thirty-six health personnel.
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