Up yours, Human rights cherry pickers!

 I came across some news that deeply offended me, even though it wasn’t inaccurate. It emphasised the concept of human rights cherry picking that some people embody today. I’m talking about a mural in New York that compares Israel’s record on LGBT rights with its neighbours. Now it is undoubtedly true, Israel has a decent sized gay pride in Tel aviv, it allows gays and lesbians to adopt, and it recognises foreign same sex marriages, and it allows gays to serve in the military, not particularly surprising given that it is one of the most militarised societies on earth where men have to serve a compulsory 3 years and women a compulsory two years, it really helps keep up an illegal occupation that has been going on for forty five years. In contrast LGBT rights look bleak in the Arab states surrounding it.

This may lead some of you to think why on earth did I find it offensive? Don’t I care about LGBT rights? Of course I do, as an openly gay man who is an avowed atheist you’re going to have a hard time for me to stick up for islamically based homophobia, just as I would against Christianity based homophobia, or Jewish based homophobia. LGBT rights are deeply dear to me because they affect me and others with my sexual orientation across the world, but it is deeply offensive when you try to use a state with general disregard for the human rights of millions of citizens in the occupied territories. Where millions of Palestinians have been forced into refugee camps, are deprived of the freedom of movement, their water supplies drained off to irrigate illegal Israeli settlements, terrorised by fanatical settlers protected by the Israeli army and thousands have been evicted from their homes. These issues affect ALL Palestinians regardless of their sexual orientation. It is particularly offensive as this mural was made by a group called Birthright Israel that facilitates the emigration of American Jews to Israel and, importantly, to the occupied territories. They are given a right to be Israelis purely on account of their religion, despite the fact that they may have no relatives there, are not married to one of its citizens, and have no connection generally to the place. The fact that this organisation is responsible in part for moving people like that into homes that were once occupied by people who had lived there for hundreds of years is horrendous.  In short, I think it is extremely hypocritical that an organisation that is using the human rights’ abuses of the Israeli state has the audacity to portray it as a beacon of human rights on account of the fact that a same sex couple can walk hand in hand down the streets of its most forward thinking city, Tel Aviv, without being attacked.

Furthermore Israel doesn’t have a completely rosy record on gay rights currently either. This is for several reasons, number one, yes we could walk down the streets of downtown Tel Aviv without hiding our sexualities, but if we tried that in large sections of Jerusalem the ultra-orthodox Jewish residents would probably spit on us or attack us. Don’t forget that Jerusalem is the capital. Secondly the Haredi community (a large ultra-orthodox denomination) are rapidly growing in Israel, and are likely to outnumber secular Israelis there soon, when that happens we are likely to see a rolling back of Israel’s gay rights. Thirdly, Israel recently rejected equal marriage by a vote in parliament. Fourthly, Israel is vehemently backed by the Christian right in the USA, which as we all know too well is hardly a friend to LGBTs in that country, or in fact across the world, especially when you see them going to Africa to bolster anti-gay laws in Uganda, especially Lou Engle and Scott Lively, the latter actually claims that despite the fact that gay men were persecuted by the Nazis and thrown into concentration camps, they were somehow the backbone of the Nazi party.

The message resonating from the mural in New York is loud and clear, how Israel treats its own  LGBTs (conveniently forgetting discrimination suffered by Palestinian LGBTs in Israel) is all that matters, how it treats the Palestinians in general doesn’t matter. Human rights are human rights, that is it, and this mural was a blatant propaganda device to portray a state that is infamous the world over as good, because it has succeeded in human rights in one sphere alone. The defence of human rights has to be general as well as specific, otherwise we have demeaned and weakened the very concept of it. Fighting for the human rights of Palestinians, as well as how it treats its own LGBT citizens are both important. I, for one, am capable of enshrining both. To put it in a different light, can you imagine how offensive it would be to suggest that racism doesn’t matter, but homophobia does, or if someone held the opposite position? Deeply, because the fight for human rights across the globe may vary in different areas and to different extents, but oppression in any form is simply intolerable and poisonous to the welfare of the entire human race.
Here is the article for more information:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/05/18/new-york-mural-compares-gay-rights-in-israel-to-its-neighbours/