We’ve all been entertained by the (possibly very real) insanity of the group “Queers For Palestine“. Sensible people have reasonably wondered just how long any of them would last in Gaza under the Hamas government. Some commentators have suggested the likes of Owen Jones – who wears his sexuality on his sleeve while cloaking his indifference to terrorists in progressive virtue-signalling – might like to undertake a fact-finding trip to Gaza to discover how literal the adage “fuck around and find out” might be in an Islamic theocracy run by murderous barbarians. Certainly, were young Owen to crowdfund for this trip-of-a-lifetime, I’d happily contribute… as long as the unused return ticket were refundable.
It might be a good time to remember the life and death of the original “queer for Palestine”, Vittorio Arrigoni. One might have thought his gruesome death would be enough to deter the later formation of a network of imbeciles calling themselves this. Arrigoni originally relocated to Gaza to offer himself as a human shield, among other idiotic decisions. He was eventually murdered by an Islamist group even more “radical” than Hamas who accused him of coming to Gaza to “spread corruption”. This is a common euphemism for homosexual activity among Islamic fundamentalists, so the fact that Arrigoni was gay leads one to the obvious conclusion. Some activist friends seemed upset that many were unwilling to speak up about this. In fact, his Wikipedia entry barely acknowledges this. His sexuality has been memory-holed.
Of course, the current war in the region has excited the Q4P campaigners again, some claiming that 2SLGBTQIA+ rights were contingent of “justice for the Palestinians”. One group attempted to join a march and were chased away; another provoked a furious reaction; and another arrived with a blended Pride/Palestinian flag, a popular move perhaps among the middle-classes in New York City, but one guaranteed to get you murdered in Gaza City. Yet they are too stupid to take a hint.
Finally, a Palestinian Imam from the al Asqa mosque clarified the response of the Palestinian people, It fell short of gratitude for their solidarity. “The people of Palestine will not allow a single homosexual in our land,” such perversion brings the wrath of Allah”
A Palestinian scholar from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem sends a message to the “Queers for Palestine-crowd” in the West:
“The people of Palestine will not allow a single homosexual in our land,” such perversion brings the wrath of Allah”
🇵🇸🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/XFo8UGLUPp
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 28, 2023
And make no mistake, they are serious about this. Honour-killing and gay-bashing is common and even Amnesty International claims the authorities fail to prevent and investigate homophobic and transphobic threats and attacks. Unsurprising since Hamas – “the authorities” – even executed one of its own commanders, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, on charges of gay sex.
Ironic then – for some reason it needs restating – that in the entire Middle East, it is safe to be “queer” in only one country: Israel.
