Black Laundry

Black Laundry (Hebrew: כביסה שחורה‎‎, Kvisa Shchora) is an Israeli group of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people and others (collectively, LGBTQ) who utilize direct action to oppose the occupation of Palestinian land and to support other social justice causes. According to their website, "Black Laundry tries to stress the connection between different forms of oppression - our own oppression as lesbians, gays and transpeople enhances our solidarity with members of other oppressed groups."[1] The group formed in Tel Aviv at the beginning of the second intifada.

Black Laundry's first action was a "No Pride in the Occupation!" campaign within the Pride Day celebration in Israel. This message was the first to surface in the LGBTQ community in Israel. Initially the radicals were met with a great deal of opposition, but they have gained more acceptance among LGBTQ Israelis and shifted the discourse on queer issues in Israel.

Black Laundry activists believe that it is hypocritical to have pride in the achievements of the gay liberation movement in Israeli society while Israel continues to occupy parts of what it regards as rightfully Arab parts of Palestine. They also protest what they regard as the commercialization of LGBT and queer culture. The group often employs performance art to convey messages about the liberation of Arab Palestine, animal rights, queer rights, sexual freedom, body oppression, and anti-capitalism.

The group also fights alongside other LGBTQ groups to fight gay repression in the county and also work closely with other radical left groups, including Anarchists Against the Wall. Their stated intention is not to educate Palestinians on gay liberation but rather to offer solidarity in their struggle for liberation; however, some believe that they have had a positive effect on the typically conservative culture of Palestine.

See also

References

This page is seeded with information from infoshop.org's OpenWiki
  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2006-04-08.

External links

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