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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem

‘No pride in occupation’: queer Palestinians on ‘pink-washing’ in Gaza conflict

Yoav Atzmoni, with a helmet and in army uniform, stands in front of the rubble of buildings holding a rainbow flag with the handwritten message on it:
One of two images of Israeli soldier Yoav Atzmoni that was posted on Instagram by the Israeli government in November 2023 with the caption: “The first ever pride flag raised in Gaza”. Photograph: @stateofisrael/instagram

When Daoud, a veteran queer activist, recently walked past rainbow flags hung for Pride month in the old port city of Jaffa, a historic centre of Palestinian culture, he was overcome by a wave of revulsion.

The most famous symbol of LGBTQ+ liberation has been so co-opted by the Israeli state that to a gay Palestinian like him it now serves only as a reminder of the horror unfolding just 60 miles south.

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