Israel war: The fundamental incoherence of ‘Queers for Palestine’

The world is reeling after a horrific attack by Hamas terrorists
killed 1,200 people
, including
22 Americans
, in Israel. But making matters exponentially worse is the incoherent and downright vile response to this tragedy from many “progressives” in the United States.

In Times Square, progressives gathered to celebrate the so-called “freedom fighters” and their acts of indiscriminate violence against civilians. At
college campuses
across the U.S., “pro-Palestine” rallies have erupted that have quickly given way to open calls for violence against Israel and celebration of the Hamas attacks. Across social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, supposedly progressive voices have justified, made excuses for, or even celebrated Hamas’s horrific violence, which included the mass slaughter of concertgoers and killing babies.

HAMAS TELLS CIVILIANS TO IGNORE ISRAEL’S EVACUATION WARNING

Thankfully, many liberals have not succumbed to this madness. But those who have demonstrate the brain rot of the “woke,” progressive worldview. It simplifies the world into “oppressors” versus “oppressed” in a way that’s reductive and inaccurate, which leads them to a place of fundamental incoherence.

No phenomenon better illustrates this incoherence than the “Queers for Palestine” solidarity movement. There are groups that are
dedicated to this cause
, and it has filtered through to the broader pro-Palestine movement. From the rainbow flags seen at pro-Hamas demonstrations to the
Palestinian flag
and rainbow flag flying side by side at Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-MI)
congressional office
, many so-called supporters of LGBT rights are also adamantly defending Palestine in the escalating conflict.

That’s like chickens getting together and supporting KFC.

While Israel isn’t perfect on questions of LGBT rights, it is an essentially free country where gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people can live openly. In fact, Israel hosts some of the biggest gay pride parades in the world.

The Palestinian territories, on the other hand, both legally and culturally sanction homosexuality to an astounding degree. Here’s how the Jerusalem Post
summed up this state of affairs
: “According to Palestinian law, being gay is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and in Gaza, it’s punishable by death. In 2016, Hamas executed a senior commander by firing squad in Gaza for homosexual activity. LGBTQ+ Palestinians have no legal protections against discrimination, are forbidden from adopting and gay marriage is not recognized in any capacity.”

This viciously anti-gay legal regime isn’t forced onto Palestinian society by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority — it’s widely supported by the Palestinian people. According to Pew Research, only
4% of Palestinians
think society should accept homosexuality. Meanwhile, a 2019 BBC
poll
found that more Palestinians believe honor killings are acceptable than believe homosexuality is acceptable.

So there’s a clear tension here for U.S. progressives: Either they unequivocally support Palestine, or they unequivocally support LGBT rights. They can’t do both without descending into inconsistency and incoherence.

The reason these progressives are ending up in this muddled place, where they’re defending a homophobic theocracy in the name of social justice, is clear. The “woke” worldview is incredibly reductionist, reducing the world to two classes of people: the “oppressors” and the “oppressed.” It leaves no room for the nuance and shades of gray that exist in, well, reality. In truth, the oppressed are also sometimes the oppressors — and vice versa. The real world is a messy place, and it’s rare to find a conflict in which one side is 100% in the right and another 100% in the wrong.

Of course, it’s entirely possible to sympathize with the plight of the Palestinian people while condemning the violence of Hamas and the citizens’ wildly repressive beliefs. But that would require a degree of nuance and distinction that’s increasingly hard to find among our “woke” activist class.

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Brad Polumbo (
@Brad_Polumbo
) is an independent journalist, the co-founder of
BASEDPolitics
, and a Washington Examiner contributor.