When the so-called “Dyke March” organized a protest for lesbian rights, they decided to take sides in the divisive Israel-Palestine conflict.

Consequently, some Jewish lesbians were forced to leave the march because they carried a flag that had a Star of David printed on top of the LGBTQ rainbow flag. They were told that the march was “anti-Zionist” and “pro-Palestinian,” and that some Israel-haters in the parade were “made [to] feel unsafe” by the age-old Jewish symbol.   

Shortly after this fiasco, another event called “Slut Walk Chicago” tweeted that they would stand by the Dyke Marchers’ “decision to remove the Zionist contingent from their events.” They insisted that they wouldn’t allow “Zionist displays” at their gathering either. After pushback from people arguing that their stance was anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, Slut Walk relented and claimed it would no longer ban “any symbols or any kind of ethnic or heritage flag,” while still asserting that they were anti-Zionist.

These events followed an earlier one in 2016 where gay BDS activists (BDS stands for boycott, divestment, sanctions, a movement calling for pressure on Israel to change its Palestinian policy) together with a local Black Lives Matter chapter broke up an LGBTQ event in Chicago because it featured a presentation by an organization that works to foster ties between LGBTQ communities in North America and Israel. The protestors claimed that the event organizers had engaged in “pinkwashing” — a concept arguing that Israel exploits its “gay-friendly” reputation in order to distract from its occupation of contested territory.

By foolishly taking sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and supporting the Muslim side, these lesbians have not only sidetracked their core mission, they have also aligned themselves with some of the most repressive antigay countries in the world today. They have also aligned themselves against the one Middle Eastern nation that is among the world’s strongest supporters of gay rights. Israel has granted asylum to gay Muslims who have been threatened with death by neighboring Arab countries. 

Though no country is perfect when it comes to gay rights, Israel has long been a leader in promoting equality. While the United States military still had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the Israeli army actively recruited openly gay and lesbian soldiers into its highest ranks — both as combat and intelligence officers. Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride Parade is world-famous, and that city has been declared one of the most gay-friendly places in the world. Even in Jerusalem — the home of many ultra-orthodox traditionalists — gay pride parades have taken place, though not without some counterprotests.

The only “parade” of gays in the Muslim world has been when they have been lined up and paraded to prison — sometimes to be executed. There are no gay or lesbian rights in the Palestinian-controlled territories, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, or the Gulf States. Being openly gay is an invitation to state-sanctioned violence.

Why, then, would radical lesbians support a movement which, if successful in establishing a Muslim state in place of Israel, would criminalize being gay or lesbian? Let there be no mistake about what the Palestinian state would be. Just look at its proposed constitution, which requires that the state be governed by Sharia law, the Muslim code that demands the death penalty for gays and lesbians. The Quran refers to sexual relations between two men as an “abomination” and calls on the legal punishment of death for all illicit sexual relations. “And as for those who are guilty of an indecency,” the Quran states, “call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or Allah opens some way for them.” The Torah has similar prohibitions, but they are not enforced in secular Israel.

The reason for this self-destructive alliance with the forces of antigay expression inheres in the concept of “intersectionality,” a pseudo-academic theory holding that all forms of social oppression are inexorably linked. Increasingly, hard-left radicals insist on a package of unrelated left-wing causes that must be embraced by anyone claiming the label of “progressive” — including the demonization of Jews and their nation state, Israel.

The time has come for organizations that purport to represent lesbians and gay men to stick to their mission and stop supporting nations, groups, and leaders who would kill them if they had the chance. If they think I’m being overdramatic, let them try to conduct a “Dyke March” or “Slut Walk” in Ramallah.

Photo: GettyImages.com / Nakita Krucker