It ain't "Pinkwashing" if it's True

This one's for you, Dan:

The Equality Forum is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to advance national and international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights through education. Since 2006, Equality Forum has spearheaded LGBT History Month. LGBT History Month honors 31 LGBT Icons—one each day—with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images, and other downloadable educational resources including special features for students.
They also host the weeklong Annual Equality Forum with an international focus, top-tier panel discussions, parties, an annual art exhibit, International Equality Dinner, Sunday OUT! and more.

The 20th annual Equality Forum's featured nation was Israel.

Some of the special programing about Israel's LGBT population included an exhibit of Israeli photographer David Adika's work at the 13th annual Gay and Lesbian Art Exhibit and the Tel Aviv Drag Performer/Singing Sensation Osher Sabag performing at the Drag Show at Tabu

For many, the highlight of the event was the appearance of Ambassador of Israel to the U.S. Michael Oren as Keynote speaker. From the Globes website:

"Oren mentioned three cases that highlight Israel's liberal attitude toward the LBGT community: two women IDF soldiers who harassed a lesbian soldier were sentence by a military court to prison; and an Israeli diplomat, who received a top posting in Europe, asked and received without further ado full rights for his partner; and the Israeli government did not capitulate to intense pressure from religious parties to cancel the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade, which was held to great success under heavy police protection.

"Our activists have faced many challenges, but they can build on a solid foundation of liberty," said Oren. "Today, Israel's LBGT community is part of the country's diverse and thriving social fabric. Together, we are soldiers, professors, legislators, judges, factory workers, members of the medical professions, and teachers. Together, we are not gays, heterosexuals, bisexuals, or transgenders, but proud Israelis."

Oren added, "In fact, two Palestinian organizations that are fighting for LBGT rights in the West Bank, operate out of Israel because they cannot operate freely in the Palestinian Authority."

Oren said that it is not difficult to be more liberal than Israel's neighbors, adding that Israel must be more advanced not only in the region, but in the world. "We must never cease our efforts to remove the remaining obstacles to total equal rights in Israel. We must ensure that these rights are guaranteed in law, and we must ensure that abuse at school, intolerance by certain religious circles, and public prejudice become unacceptable. Period," he said."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on Israel

Israel is the only country in the Middle East to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and his pursuit of peace, justice and equality.



"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect her right to exist, its territorial integrity ..... Israel is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security, and that security must be a reality.”

Spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr 10 days before his assassination

Israel acknowledges the legacy of Dr. King with a memorial in Jerusalem, and with a forest, planted in the Galilee. Currently, trees are also being planted to honor his wife, Coretta Scott King.

From the JNF

"In the summer of 2006, Hezbollah launched Katyusha rockets into northern Israel, destroying two million trees that covered thousands of acres of forest in the Galilee. As a tribute to Coretta Scott King and her message of peace and equality, a section of the Biriya Forest, which was destroyed by the rockets, will be replanted as the Coretta Scott King Forest. King, who passed away in 2006, was a distinguished human rights activist and leader. She devoted her life to social justice, alongside her husband, The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Coretta Scott King Forest is in addition to a forest that was planted in Israel in memory of her husband."


From Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King





Martin Luther King St. in Israel. Note the English, Hebrew and Arabic of the sign. What were you saying about "Jew only roads", again?

Eleven students charged with disrupting Israeli Ambassador's speech at UC Irvine

The Orange County District Attorney's Office has filed charges of misdemeanor conspiracy to disturb a meeting and misdemeanor disturbance of a meeting, said Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. The charges stem from the disruption of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech Feb. 8, 2010. "This case is being filed because there was an organized attempt to squelch the speaker, who was invited to speak to a group at UCI," Rackauckas said.
We must decide whether we are a country of laws or a country of anarchy. We cannot tolerate a preplanned violation of the law, even if the crime takes place on a school campus and even if the defendants are college students. In our democratic society, we cannot tolerate a deliberate, organized, repetitive and collective effort to significantly disrupt a speaker who hundreds assembled to hear."

The defendants are:

Mohamad Mohy-Eldeen Abdelgany, 23, of UCI
Khalid Gahgat Akari, 19, of UC Riverside
Aslam Abbasi Akhtar, 23, of UCI
Joseph Tamim Haider, 23, of UCI
Taher Mutaz Herzallah, 21, of UC Riverside
Hakim Nasreddine Kebir, 20, of UCI
Shaheen Waleed Nassar, 21, of UC Riverside
Mohammad Uns Qureashi, 19, of UCI
Ali Mohammad Sayeed, 23, of UCI
Osama Ahmen Shabaik, 22, of UCI
Asaad Mohamedidris Traina, 19, of UCI


True to form, Jewish Voice for peace, known for their blog Muzzlewatch that claims to track "efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy", spoke out in support of the disruptors. Apparently its perfectly fine to stifle open debate when they don't like whats being said.

A recent email sent out by Emily Ratner, on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace, claims her interuption of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech before the Jewish Federation's General Assembly in November, was inspired by the brave example in part by these 11 students . Emily asked, paradoxically, "What will happen to the Irvine 11and to freedom of speech for all of us?".

Noam Chomsky once said (remember, this Emily) "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." The attempts of the MSA in Irvine, and JVP to curtail others liberties is an affront to us all.

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