We, Queer members of the Bay Area Jewish Community and our allies, are deeply saddened by events surrounding the “Jews March for Pride” contingent in this year’s San Francisco Pride Parade.
We wanted to march with “Jews March for Pride” because we are proud to be Queer Jews and allies. We felt excited and privileged to have a place in the San Francisco Pride Parade to celebrate our whole selves as Jews and Queers.
However, our sense of pride in the contingent was shattered when we learned that not only would the Israeli Consulate be marching with Israeli flags, but also that “inclusion monitors” would censor anything that deviated from the narrow message of “Jews support LGBT equality.” We see this as a contradiction. Support for the Israeli government is a political position that is not synonymous with support for LGBT equality, and is not synonymous with Judaism. Because these strong Israeli symbols would be dominating the contingent, we felt we could not in good conscious march without publically repudiating those messages. And although the planners reached out to include us, we felt excluded when any disagreement we voiced was declared “off message” and inappropriate.
This illusion of unity, at the price of silencing some members, is a deliberate trend that is plaguing the Jewish Community. Many Jewish organizations portray a unified front of support for Israel, and allow this single message to come at the expense of the diverse needs of our Jewish Community. In fact, we have a range of views on Israel/Palestine and our commitment to Jewish and Queer communities lies far beyond this single issue. We reject the dichotomy that ‘Pro-Palestine’ is synonymous with ‘Anti-Israel,’ and encourage space for deeper conversations about the complexities of these issues. Additionally, we refuse to let discussions about Israel detract from the many other struggles for justice our communities are engaged in.
Prior to the Parade day, we were not sure that we would be allowed to march at all. We arrived holding signs such as “No Pride in Occupation,” and “Feygele for Free Palestine,” and to our surprise, we did not get kicked out. We were met with a positive reception from many participants and observers of the parade, and a few hostile reactions. But the real consequences of our action have occurred in the days and weeks following the parade. Many of us have faced social sanctions in our personal and professional lives. Those of us who work in Jewish organizations have been harshly shamed in our workplaces and our political views have become a topic of discussion amongst our peers and supervisors. We feel vulnerable in the very community that had supposedly organized to support us as Queer Jews.
Rather than retreating to safer, less public expressions of our convictions, we are asking you to join us in resisting the silencing in our communities. Let’s seize this opportunity for discussions, programming and policy change, and push to create spaces where our voices are allowed and welcomed.
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Jerry Haber
July 12th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
HI, first of all, I just wanted to express my support for you guys, and I hope you will let us know the far-reaching consequences. I read the article quickly, and I so I didn’t know what your relationship was with the more mainstream Jewish LGBT community. Were they cool with things? Who invited the Israel embassy anyway, and who was responsible for attempting to muzzle you guys. And who is beyond the recriminations?
Keep the good work!
Bill
July 12th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/aclu_defends_nazis_right_to_burn
T
July 12th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
This is messed up. I support the right of Jews to march in the pride parade as Jews who are against the occupation and to march without having israeli flags foisted upon them.
Still, are they serious? They are surprised and alarmed that they are facing repercussions? Are they new to being activists, because that is just ridiculous. Of course you are going to be “outed” and your outfit/banner/slogan commented on if you march in an EXTREMELY PUBLIC PARADE. Your politics, if you put them on display, are fair game for discussion and attention. I think it’s more than a bit whiny and entitled when these folks managed to march without any real opposition in the parade yet STILL find a bunch of insubstantial little things to complain about (oh no, my coworkers saw me at the biggest and most well-attended parade in the whole city! oh no, i marched with a jews against teh occupation sign and now my friends know i’m about the occupation! oh no!)
as an anti-occupation jew i have lost friends over this and had difficult situations in my religious community. but if these are the worst of these folks’ complaints, they need to get over themselves.
Backseat Blogger
July 13th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Odd. you seem to fel that you should be free to express your opinions and then express shock when others express theirs.
free speach for me but not for thee.
Naftali
July 13th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Youa re all supporters of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror, shame on you all. BTW, check to see how gay people are treated in Gaza and in the Islamic world.
Michael
July 17th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I see nothing inconsistent about marching behind a great big Israeli flag and supporting a Palestinian state. Why does pro-Palestine have to equal anti-Israel? The Israeli flag symbolizes the Israeli people — not the Netanyahu government and not the “occupation” — and if you can’t get your head around support for the Israeli people then I would say no, you have no business marching with the Jewish community, “organized” or otherwise, in ANY parade.
Queer Anti-Zionist Jew
July 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
This queer anti-zionist jew from chicago supports your voices!! i have no pride in israel’s apartheid and resent the co-opting of my voice. queer jews in solidarity – liberation for palestinians and all people!
Deena
July 20th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Yes, Let’s support establishing a nation where the GLBT community will fear for their lives.
Just a fairly current bit of news:
In March 2008, Israel’s Interior Ministry granted a gay Palestinian from Jenin a rare residency permit to live with his partner of 8 years in Tel Aviv after he said his sexuality put his life in danger in the West Bank
Israel remains one of the few places where glbt people have at least a semblance of security. There must be a reason why Muslim gays and lesbians emigrate to Israel.
At least think before you act.
And as for you’re being ‘outed’ at work and other places. What did you expect? If you didn’t wish to show the world who you are, then you should have worn masks!
MuzzleWatch » Nice, liberal Jewish institutions shame peacenik LGBT Jews
July 21st, 2009 at 11:31 pm
[…] They write in JVoices: “We, Queer members of the Bay Area Jewish Community and our allies, are deeply saddened by events surrounding the “Jews March for Pride” contingent in this year’s San Francisco Pride Parade. […]
ASB
August 12th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
I’m with T, BB, and Michael.