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This Is How Hamas Treats Gay People; Why Is the World Silent?
Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
In the Gaza Strip, the harsh reality for LGBTQ+ Palestinians under Hamas rule is one of severe persecution and brutality.
Hamas, the Islamist organization that governs Gaza, enforces Sharia law, under which homosexuality is not merely illegal, but punishable by extreme measures — including torture and execution.
This oppression starkly contrasts with the freedoms enjoyed by LGBTQ+ individuals just across the border in Israel, where the queer community is protected by laws, and is fully integrated into society.
Being queer in Gaza and in Palestinian controlled regions is a perilous existence
For LGBTQ+ Palestinians in Gaza, life is a constant peril. Human rights organizations have documented numerous cases where Hamas has executed individuals suspected of being gay or lesbian. These executions are often publicized through videos and photos as a method of instilling fear and demonstrating the regime’s strict adherence to its interpretation of Sharia law. The intent is clear: to eliminate any form of dissent and maintain a strict moral code as defined by their interpretation of Islamic law.
Hamas’ treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals includes brutal practices such as executions and torture, and the US State Department confirms that both Hamas — and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank — persecute gay people. Reports of this oppression are distressingly common. Such acts are not only a violation of basic human rights, but also a clear indication of the regime’s intolerance and cruelty towards LGBTQ+ individuals.
A desperate flight to safety — queer Palestinians must get out in order to be “out”
Faced with such severe repression, scores of LGBTQ+ Palestinians risk their lives annually to escape to Israel. The journey is fraught with danger. They must evade detection by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, navigate the perilous border, and often rely on clandestine networks to seek refuge. The contrast between the two regions is stark: in Israel, LGBTQ+ individuals find legal protection, social acceptance, and community support that are entirely absent in Gaza.
Israel offers a sanctuary where LGBTQ+ rights are enshrined in law. The state provides comprehensive healthcare, including for LGBTQ+ individuals, and there is significant representation and advocacy for the community. Israel ranks among the top countries in the world with the highest percentage of LGBTQ lawmakers and politicians. Israeli cities like Tel Aviv are known globally for their vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes, where Pride parades and public celebrations are common, symbolizing the freedom and acceptance that are standard in Israeli society.
The grim irony of asylum seeking…
This irony is not lost on the LGBTQ+ Palestinians who seek asylum in Israel. They flee from a regime that openly tortures and executes them for their identity to a nation that, while politically and militarily opposed to Hamas, provides them with refuge and safety. This situation highlights a profound human rights issue that transcends political boundaries and underscores the fundamental right to live without fear of persecution for one’s identity.
For those who make it to Israel, the transition is dramatic. Many experience the relief of living openly for the first time, supported by a network of LGBTQ+ organizations and advocates who assist them in integrating into society. They find a stark contrast in a country that upholds LGBTQ+ rights, providing a glimpse of the freedoms they have been denied in Gaza.
International response and responsibility exists, but is far too silent, uncaring, and ignoring of LGBTQ needs of Palestinians
The international community has largely been silent on the plight of LGBTQ+ individuals in Gaza and Palestinian territories in the West Bank, which are often overshadowed by broader geopolitical conflicts. However, this issue demands attention and action.
Human rights organizations have called for increased awareness and pressure on Hamas to cease its brutal practices against LGBTQ+ people. The global community must support efforts to provide safe passage and asylum for those fleeing persecution, and push for broader human rights reforms in regions under oppressive regimes.
Notably, the voices of protestors who accuse Israel of human rights violations are completely silent about the actual human rights violations of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority against their own people — especially in the LGBTQ+ community.
Moreover, it is essential to recognize the bravery of LGBTQ+ Palestinians who speak out against the regime, often at great personal risk for themselves and their loved ones. Their voices are crucial in highlighting the human rights abuses they endure and advocating for the freedoms they seek.
A call for compassion and justice; Hamas targets Palestinian LGBTQ along with targeting Israelis
The harsh treatment of LGBTQ+ Palestinians under Hamas is a grievous violation of human rights that demands urgent attention. While the geopolitical complexities of the Israeli Palestinian conflict are immense, the basic human rights of LGBTQ+ individuals should not be overshadowed. Their suffering is a stark reminder of the brutality faced by marginalized groups under oppressive regimes.
In a world where LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly recognized as fundamental human rights, the plight of LGBTQ+ Palestinians under Hamas is a call to action. It is a call for compassion, for justice, and for the global community to stand against the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation. Their journey from fear to freedom highlights the profound impact of living in a society that respects and protects the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their identity — and puts the differences between Israel and Hamas in stark contrast.
Yuval David is an Emmy and Multi-Award-Winning Actor, Filmmaker, Journalist, and Jewish LGBTQ+ activist and advisor. A creative and compelling storyteller, on stage and screen, news and across social media, Yuval shares the narrative of Jewish activism and enduring hope. Follow him on Instagram and X.
The post This Is How Hamas Treats Gay People; Why Is the World Silent? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes near Sanaa airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Israel struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi terrorist group in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said three people were killed.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was about to board a plane at the airport when it came under attack. A crew member on the plane was injured, he said in a statement.
The Israeli military said that in addition to striking the airport, it also hit military infrastructure at the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib on Yemen’s west coast. It also attacked the country’s Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations.
Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said two people were killed in the strikes on the airport and one person was killed in the port hits, while 11 others were wounded in the attacks.
There was no comment from the Houthis, who have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the attacks that Israel will continue its mission until it is complete: “We are determined to sever this terror arm of Iran’s axis.”
The prime minister has been strengthened at home by the Israeli military’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and by its destruction of most of the Syrian army’s strategic weapons.
The Israeli attacks on the airport, Hodeidah and on one power station, were also reported by Al Masirah TV.
Tedros said he had been in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff detainees and to assess the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa … the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” he said in a statement.
“The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” he said, adding that he and his colleagues were safe.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the incident.
More than a year of Houthi attacks have disrupted international shipping routes, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys that have in turn stoked fears over global inflation.
The UN Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Houthi attacks against Israel, Israel‘s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Israel‘s military failed to intercept a missile from Yemen that fell in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area, injuring 14 people.
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Controversial Islamic Group CAIR Chides US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for Denying Report of ‘Famine’ in Gaza
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew. Photo: Alchetron.
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for casting doubt on a new report claiming that famine has gripped northern Gaza.
The controversial Muslim advocacy group on Wednesday slammed Lew for his “callous dismissal” of the recent Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report accusing Israel of inflicting famine on the Gaza Strip. The organization subsequently asserted that Israel had perpetrated an ethnic cleansing campaign in northern Gaza.
“Ambassador Lew’s callous dismissal of this shocking report by a US-backed agency exposing Israel’s campaign of forced starvation in Gaza reminds one of the old joke about a man who murdered his parents and then asked for mercy because he is now an ‘orphan,’” CAIR said in a statement.
“To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling, and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza,” the Washington, DC-based group continued.
On Monday, FEWS Net, a US-created provider of warning and analysis on food insecurity, released a report detailing that a famine had allegedly taken hold of northern Gaza. The report argued that 65,000-75,000 individuals remain stranded in the area without sufficient access to food.
“Israel’s near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas of North Gaza Governorate” has resulted in mass starvation among scores of innocent civilians in the beleaguered enclave, the report stated.
Lew subsequently issued a statement denying the veracity of the FEWS Net report, slamming the organization for peddling “inaccurate” information and “causing confusion.”
“The report issued today on Gaza by FEWS NET relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate. We have worked closely with the Government of Israel and the UN to provide greater access to the North Governorate, and it is now apparent that the civilian population in that part of Gaza is in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report,” Lew wrote.
“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this. We work day and night with the UN and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew continued.
Following Lew’s repudiation, FEWS NET quietly removed the report on Wednesday, sparking outrage among supporters of the pro-Palestinian cause.
“We ask FEWS NET not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters and to again make its report available to the public,” CAIR said in its statement.
In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Israel has been repeatedly accused of inflicting famine in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Despite the allegations, there is scant evidence of mass starvation across the war-torn enclave.
This is not the first time that FEWS Net has attempted to accuse Israel of inflicting famine in Gaza. In June, the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition, rejected claims by FEWS Net that a famine had taken hold of northern Gaza. In rejecting the allegations, the FRC cited an “uncertainty and lack of convergence of the supporting evidence employed in the analysis.”
Meanwhile, CAIR has been embroiled in controversy since the onset of the Gaza war last October.
CAIR has been embroiled in controversy since the Oct. 7 atrocities. The head of CAIR, for example, said he was “happy” to witness Hamas’s rampage across southern Israel.
“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on Oct. 7,” CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad said in a speech during the American Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago in November. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in.”
CAIR has long been a controversial organization. In the 2000s, it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case. Politico noted in 2010 that “US District Court Judge Jorge Solis found that the government presented ‘ample evidence to establish the association’” of CAIR with Hamas.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas.” CAIR has disputed the accuracy of the ADL’s claim and asserted that it “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”
The post Controversial Islamic Group CAIR Chides US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for Denying Report of ‘Famine’ in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jewish Civil Rights Group Representing Amsterdam Pogrom Victims Slams Dutch Court for ‘Light Sentences’
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters are guarded by police after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ami Shooman/Israel Hayom
The international Jewish civil rights organization legally representing more than 50 victims of the attack on Israeli soccer fans that took place in Amsterdam last month has joined many voices in lambasting a Dutch court for what they described as a mild punishment for the attackers.
“These sentences are an insult to the victims and a stain on the Dutch legal system,” The Lawfare Project’s founder and executive director Brooke Goldstein said in a statement on Wednesday. “Allowing individuals who coordinated and celebrated acts of violence to walk away with minimal consequences diminishes the rule of law and undermines trust in the judicial process. If this is the response to such blatant antisemitism, what hope is there for deterring future offenders or safeguarding the Jewish community.”
On Tuesday, a district court in Amsterdam sentenced five men for their participation in the violent attacks in the Dutch city against fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv. The premeditated and coordinated violence took place on the night of Nov. 7 and into the early hours of Nov 8, before and after Maccabi Tel Aviv competed against the Dutch soccer team Ajax in a UEFA Europa League match. The five suspects were sentenced to up to 100 hours of community service and up to six months in prison.
The attackers were found guilty of public violence, which included kicking an individual lying on the ground, and inciting the violence by calling on members of a WhatsApp group chat to gather and attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. One man sentenced on Tuesday who had a “leading role” in the violence, according to prosecutors, was given the longest sentence — six months in prison.
“As someone who witnessed these trials firsthand, I am deeply disheartened by the leniency of these sentences,” added Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at The Lawfare Project. “The violent, coordinated attacks against Jews in Amsterdam are among the worst antisemitic incidents in Europe. These light sentences fail to reflect the gravity of these crimes and do little to deliver justice to the victims who are left traumatized and unheard. Even more troubling, they set a dangerous precedent, signaling to future offenders that such horrific acts of violence will not be met with serious consequences.”
The Lawfare Project said on Wednesday that it is representing over 50 victims of the Amsterdam attacks. It has also secured for their clients a local counsel — Peter Plasman, who is a partner at the Amsterdam-based law firm Kötter L’Homme Plasman — to represent them in the Netherlands. The Lawfare Project aims to protect the civil and human rights of Jewish people around the world through legal action.
Others who have criticized the Dutch court for its sentencing of the five men on Tuesday included Arsen Ostrovsky, a leading human rights attorney and CEO of The International Legal Forum; Tal-Or Cohen, the founder and CEO of CyberWell; and The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel.
The post Jewish Civil Rights Group Representing Amsterdam Pogrom Victims Slams Dutch Court for ‘Light Sentences’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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