pinkwashing

Did Israel’s Ynet publish an article containing a fabricated story to make it look as if Israeli social media users are succeeding in persuading Israel’s critics, gay ones in particular, to become its greatest champions?

Activists gear up for the annual global BDS day of action; Glasgow University bans Israeli drinking water; Pinkwashing events canceled in Washington state; BDS campaigners urge major rock stars not to play in Israel; and more.

The Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC and PFLAG (Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays) will host Anat Avissar, the foreign policy director of The Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association (The Aguda) for an “informal conversation” this Wednesday on the topic of “equality” and “the cultural differences that impact support, education and advocacy in Israel.”

Leading queer voices write an impassioned statement and open petition calling for solidarity with Palestinians under occupation and oppression, expanded support of the BDS movement, and a rejection of Israel’s pinkwashing campaigns.

Punks Against Apartheid, the punk rock collective working to educate and mobilize musicians and fans in support of the BDS movement, has posted an open letter to Moldovan hardcore band Zdob si Zdub encouraging them to cancel their show in Tel Aviv and respect the global boycott call.

Tel Aviv is the world’s best gay travel destination according to a survey by the travel web site GayCities.com and American Airlines. This marketing coup was celebrated by the Government Press Office, various consulates and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it was reported in all the major Israeli newspapers.

Two of the UK’s bestselling lifestyle magazines aimed at gay men have published the controversial Israeli advert that wipes Palestine and Syria off the map. Last Sunday I wrote about the “Think Israel” advertising campaign underway here in the UK. The Guardian received hundred of complaints after running a glossy advert that included a map in which the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories appear annexed to Israel. But it has now emerged that Attitude and Gay Times have both published the same advert (December and January issues respectively). Below are scans of all four pages of the ad as it appeared in Attitude, as a fold-out inside the front cover.

Sarah Schulman’s New York Times op-ed Israel and ‘Pinkwashing’ outs Israel’s gay marketing plan that activists have termed “pinkwashing” and consistently sought to resist and expose.