Any discussion of the real situation between Israelis and Palestinians seems to have been buried beneath a squabble between the two bloggers, Bruce Bawer and Sarah Schulman. I prefer to ignore their battle of egos and focus on the genuine human issues at hand.
Trying to "pick sides" based on "gay issues" alone is foolhardy and ignores the facts.
- There are gay supportive Palestinians.
- There are anti-gay Israelis including the ultra-conservative Chief Rabbi of Israel.
- There are gay hating Christians, Jews and Muslims.
- There are gay accepting Christians, Jews and Muslims.
- There are Israel- respecting Palestinians.
- There are Palestinian-respecting Israelis.
- There are Christian Palestinians as well as Muslim ones.
- There are Israelis who oppose the harm and discrimination Israeli perpetrates against innocent Palestinians.
- There are Palestinians who opposed the injury and death militant Palestinians perpetrate against innocent Israelis.
- There are groups, sometimes called "Peaceniks", of Israelis and and Palestinians who work together to achieve peace and cooperation.
In the absence of basic human rights for all, gay rights, women's rights, religious freedom and all the other sub-sets of "human rights" cannot exist. So. let's stop being so self-important and impatient, put first things first, and build the essential foundation of human rights for all before we start trying to design the individual rooms in the house that does not yet exist.
That does not mean I have any less of a commitment to full equality for LGBT citizens around the globe.
That does mean that I see myself as a human being, first and foremost . . . all the rest . . . being male, white, gay, American, etc . . . are accidents of birth for which I claim not special privilege and for which I deserve no discrimination.
To be clear . . .
- I unequivocally support the right of the state of Israel to exist in peace and safety.
- I unequivocally support the right of the Palestinian people to an independent, sovereign state.
- I believe both can and should exist in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation.
- I believe that the existence of both is the only path to peace in the Middle East.
Mark Fischer
Washington, DC
--- In Peckers_Pics@yahoogroups.com, "Jake" <jakewest_tn@...> wrote:
>
>
> Twink Nov 26, 2011 / Health-News-PICS
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> Diet & Fitness:
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> * Reminder: Did you complete your Diet Journal today? * Did you do
> any physical activity? If not, make a point of it by tomorrow! *
> Perhaps our male fitness photos shall inspire you to get Fit!
> Health, Wellness, Exercise, Reflections:Holiday Calorie Solution: Swap
> Olive Oil for Butter
> By Jorge Cruise - November 25, 2011
> Butter may taste great, but it's loaded with calories and fat.
> Here's a tip for cutting your butter intake: Fill a small plastic
> container with olive oil and place it in your refrigerator. The oil will
> solidify, taking on the consistency of butter. Just spread 1/2
> tablespoon of this on your toast instead of butter. It will taste a
> little weird at first, but after a few days, your taste buds will grow
> used to it.
> You can also use olive oil as a "dip." Just drizzle a bit into a
> shallow dish. Then dip small pieces of bread into the oil. Use
> extra-virgin oil for more flavor. To add more taste to your oil
> "dip," add freshly chopped garlic or dried spices such as salt,
> pepper, or oregano. Or consider trying a pre-flavored oil, such as
> garlic-flavored olive oil. Try this better butter substitute today -
> it'll help you balance your calorie budget during this diet-busting
> time of year!Take Action:
> * Boycott Bill O'Reilly and FOX News and their advertisers. Bill
> discussed a French commercial by McDonalds that was meant to show that
> McDonalds is Gay Friendly. Bill said what is next? Is McDonalds going to
> be Al-Qaida friendly as well? Imagine - Bill O'Reilly compares Gays to
> Al-Qaida! <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join>
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join> Further, Boycott
> Fox's Owner "Rupert Murcoch" and get him thrown in jail for illegal -
> political donations, corruption, greed, bribery, hacking! * Boycott
> Target, Best Buy, Gold's Gym - for donating money towards anti-gay
> political candidates/organizations.
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join> Update:
> (12/26/2010): Target is continuing to donate to anti-gay
> groups/causes/politicians. Update 03/08/11 - Lady Gaga Ends Target
> Partnership, Reportedly Over Target's Poor LGBT Stance. Update 3/25/2010
> - Target displays their hypocrisy and Sues California Gay Rights Group
> for Lobbying Outside Stores. Target is attempting to block the LGBT
> right of free speech! STOP SHOPPING AT TARGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Update
> 4/8/2011: Target lost its case to stop the LGBT from canvassing in front
> of their stores. A huge PR Disaster for TARGET! Perhaps Target should go
> out of business as they betrayed their investers and customer base.
> Target contributed massive funds to a politician who would like to
> exterminate gays. Now, Target can not stop us from Boycotting them, nor
> picketing, nor talking to customers near their stores; although, Target
> allows a anti-gay company such as the Salvation Army to stand outside
> their door and speak with customers and raise money. Isn't this a double
> standard? * End DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). Prevents Federal
> employees and Gays in the Military from gaining equal benefits. Prevents
> Gay Partners from gaining equal benefits. * Pass a LGBT friendly ENDA
> (Employee Non-Discrimination Act). ENDA would prevent employment
> discrimination of LGBT workforce. * Boycott Salvation Army as they
> will not hire Gays! "DO NOT DONATE TO THEM." * BOYCOTT "Chick-fil-a"
> for donating money to anti-gay groups. * BOYCOTT KOCH INDUSTRIES
> PRODUCTS- to include their products: Angel Soft toilet paper / Brawny
> paper towels / Dixie plates, bowls, napkins & cups / Mardi Gras napkins
> and towels / Quilted Northern toilet paper / Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper
> / Sparkle napkins / Vanity fair napkins / Zee napkins / Georgia-Pacific
> paper products & envelopes / All Georgia-Pacific lumber & building
> products (INVISTA Products) / Lycra / Stainmaster Carpet. The
> billionaire - Koch brothers are ultra republican - tea bag
> founders/supporters that do not support causes of the LGBT community.
> * Boycott WALMART - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force criticized
> Wal-Mart for denying employee benefits to same-s-x partners and for
> failing to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. By
> comparison, the group said two other chain stores with a strong presence
> in New York, Costco and Walgreens, did much better. * "Tune Out
> Trump", Boycott all Trump Hotel, casinos, holdings, The Apprentice and
> NBC Network! At CPAC, Trump said he is considering a run for president
> as a Republican. In a interview with the Des Moines Register, Trump
> added that he opposes all forms of legal recognition for gay couples,
> not just marriage. "They should not be able to marry," he said. So why
> does NBC keep the Apprentice when Donald Trump has stated he may run for
> president? After making racist remarks about Obama and recv'g public
> backlash, Trump decided not to run for president after NBC renewed his
> awful TV Show. How can NBC re-new the clown's show after he pulled such
> hateful shenanigans? * Boycott Georgia for Execution of Troy Davis @
> 11:08 EST, Sep 21, 2011:
> Former US President and Former GA Gov. Jimmy Carter felt that TROY DAVIS
> should not be executed and deserved a re-trial. The Former Director of
> the FBI felt that TROY DAVIS Was Not Guilty! Do not drive through
> Goergia as it is dangerous. Do not fly via Atlanta. For your safety -Do
> not travel to GA. TELL YOUR COMPANY NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CONVENTION
> IN GA! "Georgia Executes Innocent People!"
>
>
> And Now, Our War of the Fittest!
> This group is called "Peckers Pics." The English - slang definition of
> "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as
> Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues. In this
> section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the
> "war of the fittest!" Whereas, you should select the "Male Athlete" that
> may inspire you to exercise and "get fit!" Warning: This may stoke
> you!Your participation in discussion of health / news articles -
> appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.1 2 3 3a 4US Military 5
> 6 7 8 9Daniel Herman 10HLEB HARBACHEUSKI 11ZACH ZIMMERMAN 12Mitch
> Baker 13NATHAN KEHN 14 15 15 16 17SIMON NESSMAN 18 19 20 21 22 You
> Decide!Atlanta Pride; Oct 9, 2011Stoked?Atlanta Pride; Oct 9, 2011The
> Self-Destructive Insanity of Pro-Palestinian Gay ActivistsFront Page
> Magazine; Nov 25, 2011; Bruce Bawer
> On November 22, the New York Times ran an op-ed by the radical leftist
> lesbian Jewish playwright Sarah Schulman which did a great public
> service – it provided a perfect illustration of the utter lunacy of
> the anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian queer left.
> Schulman opened her piece, entitled "Israel and 'Pinkwashing,'" by
> quoting a line from William Butler Yeats (a writer who, incidentally,
> would have found both her work and her politics utterly vile). The
> line, also the title of a famous short story by Delmore Schwartz, was
> this: "In dreams begin responsibilities." Schulman maintained that
> Yeats's words "resonate with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
> people who have witnessed dramatic shifts in our relationship to power."
> She meant by this that while gay people have won rights and respect in
> various countries around the world, "these changes have given rise to a
> nefarious phenomenon: the co-opting of white gay people by
> anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim political forces in Western Europe and
> Israel."
> Schulman went on to express her revulsion at the enthusiasm of some
> Dutch gays for the late Pim Fortuyn and for the very much alive Geert
> Wilders, and at the fact that the English Defense League has over a
> hundred gay members. She also took me on: "In Norway," she wrote,
> "Anders Behring Breivik, the extremist who massacred 77 people in July,
> cited Bruce Bawer, a gay American writer critical of Muslim immigration,
> as an influence." (In fact, Breivik made it clear in his writings that
> I was not an influence on him - he considered me too much of a
> libertarian. But no matter.)
> The "depictions of immigrants" by people like me and Wilders "as
> 'homophobic fanatics,'" wrote Schulman, "opportunistically ignore the
> existence of Muslim gays and their allies within their communities." On
> the contrary, I and many other anti-jihadists have written extensively
> about gay Muslims. What Schulman "opportunistically ignores" is that
> gay Muslims in Western Europe tend to live in terror of being found out
> by their families and communities. Their very lives are at risk. So
> dire is their plight that until recently there was not a single "out"
> gay Muslim in all of Norway, where I live. I am now personally
> acquainted with the country's first openly gay male Muslim and its first
> openly lesbian Muslim, and I can inform Schulman that their lives have
> been made exceedingly difficult by the Muslim communities that Schulman
> is so eager to defend.
> To depict Muslims as antigay, Schulman further maintained, is to "render
> invisible the role that fundamentalist Christians, the Roman Catholic
> Church and Orthodox Jews play in perpetuating fear and even hatred of
> gays." Yes, there's hostility to gay people all over the place. The
> difference is that even the most famously gay-hating Christian on the
> planet, Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps, doesn't call for the murder of
> gay people and, as far as I know, has not killed any gays himself. By
> contrast, sharia law prescribes the death penalty for homosexuality - a
> punishment that has been carried out innumerable times by the
> governments of several Islamic countries as well as by countless Muslim
> families both in the Muslim world and in the West.
> But does Schulman care about that? Apparently not. She is the kind of
> leftist for whom ideology will always trump reality. What she is
> exercised about is the fact that Israel is, according to her, marketing
> itself as gay-friendly: Tel Aviv's tourism board, for example, is
> spending about $90 million "to brand the city as 'an international gay
> vacation destination.'" Also, Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.S. Congress
> in May "that the Middle East was 'a region where women are stoned, gays
> are hanged, Christians are persecuted.'"Every gay and lesbian person who
> has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a
> survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the
> same challenges."
>
> ....Jake <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join> Important
> Notice: Our ObamaBiden2008
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join> Group works hand -
> in - hand with Peckers PICS (Both groups were co-created to work with
> each-other). To prevent duplication of articles and questions, all
> members of this group are urgently recommended to join ObamaBiden2008
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> boycott list
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/files/Boycott%20List/>
> and discuss end of DADT, etc... There are 3 gay teen suicides in the USA
> - daily! There are Hate crimes against gay people. There are gay people
> who are fired over their sexual identity. There are gay people who died
> for our cause! These groups are focused towards Yahoo Members who
> sincerely care about LGBT rights and are interested in Gay Mens Health!
> Most important, we have a most critical election in 2012 that shall
> determine the future of LGBT rights and our health care (as many suffer
> from pre-existing illness)! Please Join Now
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join> ! Pass This Bill!
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> Street! <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Occupy_Wall_Street/join>
>
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