Queers Undermining Israel Terror (QUIT )undermines individual freedom

There's always a local angle.  Its a small world, after all.

From an article written by David-Elijah Nahmod  originally appearing in the South Florida Gay News.

In his article, "Queers for Palestine. What do they stand for?", David ponders the question,  "Can the queer movement can  align itself to the Palestinian liberation movement?",  reminding his readers that according to a 2010 report published by the International Lesbian and Gay Association homosexuality is illegal in the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip, and is punishable by up to ten years in prison. 

Sign at Frameline Film festival counterprotest :Queers for Palestine is like Turkeys for Thanksgiving

David brings up an incident several months ago, when a venerable San Francisco institution, Ciff's Variety Store was besieged by QUIT, a self identified queer anti-Israel group. Why would a queer group harass a local institution with a clear commitment to individual freedoms?

On Christmas Eve, 2012, representatives from QUIT Palestine (Queers Undermining Israeli Terror) entered Cliff’s Variety, a family owned hardware and housewares store in San Francisco’s predominately gay Castro district. The store first opened its doors in 1932.

 “They did not identify themselves when they entered the store,” Cliff’s manager Martha Jasten said to SFGN. “We felt ambushed. I had no idea what they’re after.”

After singing a mock Christmas Carol, the protesters loudly announced that the store was supporting the allegedly apartheid and genocidal policies of the Israeli government towards the Palestinian people. Store employees and security guards took the protesters by their arms and physically escorted them off the premises....

 Cliff’s Variety has been a vocal supporter of LGBT equality since the 1970s, according to Jasten.“The weekend after Black Friday is set aside as a fundraiser for the Harvey Milk Academy,” she said. “We also donate to the AIDS Emergency Fund.” The Milk Academy is a high school for LGBT youth located a few blocks from the store. The AIDS Emergency Fund provides financial assistance to low-income people with AIDS.

 
QUIT also regularly protests the Frameline LGBT film festival.  David points out that QUIT spokesperson Kate Raphael  has stated that QUIT takes no position on marriage equality, yet posted on her Facebook page  “We’re here, we’re Queer, and we don’t want marriage equality.” Why would a queer group consistently take positions that undermine the voices of the LGBT community?  It begs the question-how much of their actions are motivated by  perverse contrarian  pathology, rather than a genuine desire for social change?

Incidentally, nine months of unrelenting attacks on Cliff's appear to have ended. Sodastream is still being sold, and QUIT is searching for a new target, one perhaps with a bit less backbone than Cliff's.

Out of Israel Comes Pride: Gay men in the promised land

There is reason to feel pride in Isael's LGBT record.

* Gays have had full civil rights since 1992
* Gays have full rights to serve in the military
* Gays have partner adoption rights
* Gays have partner benefits for governmental employees
* Same gender marriages preformed abroad are recognized.

Inspired by the openness of Israeli society, gay porn producer Michael Lucas has created his first non-pornographic feature  Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land,.  Check out the film trailer:





From Outsmart Magazine ,an article by  local journalist David-Elijah Nahmod

 When people think of Israel, they often conjure up images of suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and Orthodox Jews. During the opening moments of Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land, the first non-pornographic feature from gay porn-king Michael Lucas, people in New York City’s Times Square are asked if they think homosexuality is legal in Israel. Many say they have no idea, while some assume it’s not.

 For nearly an hour, Lucas reveals the other side of life in the Jewish State. He visits the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), where Parliament member Nitzan Horowitz issues a Gay Pride proclamation. In Tel Aviv, the country’s gay mecca, gay dad Yossi Berg, founder of Rainbow Families, walks with his young son and explains the importance of having children in Jewish culture.

 Lucas takes us to an Israeli gay wedding. He interviews an openly gay personal trainer, who shares his experience of coming out in the Israeli army, where homosexuality has been accepted since 1993.

 Throughout the film, Lucas makes it plainly obvious that much of Israel is a safe place to be openly gay.

 “Israel is more progressive than the United States,” he observes.

 Undressing Israel is not the first time Lucas’s camera has ventured inside the State of Israel. In 2009, he raised many eyebrows when he produced Men of Israel, the first in a series of gay adult features to be shot inside the country with an all-Sabra (Israeli-born) cast.

 Lucas, who works in New York City and Tel Aviv, has become one of Israel’s most vocal champions in the gay community. Unafraid of controversy, he’s been equally vocal in his condemnation of the virulently antigay regimes that exist in the Muslim world. His columns for publications like The Advocate, in which he harshly condemns the anti-Israel activism of queer-identified organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, often draw fire, but he always stands his ground.

Read the whole interview at Outsmart