Gay Activists Call to Cancel Tel Aviv Pride Parade Over State's Preferential Treatment of Tourists

[Israeli]

1. Follow ups to April 17th .....

Pinkwashing: Israel’s Rainbow Flight to Nowhere

The state has commandeered the gay community for propaganda. The gay pride parade must therefore include the struggle for democracy, equality and freedom for all.

Aeyal Gross Apr 20, 2016

Apparently one painted plane too many has let the pushback on pinkwashing – Israel’s use of LGBT rights for propaganda – move from the margins to the center.

When it emerged that to woo gay tourists to this year’s Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, the Tourism Ministry planned to fly people to Israel on a rainbow-painted plane, even those who considered criticism of pinkwashing an unfounded leftist conspiracy were irked. This was preceded by the ministry’s announcement that it had allocated 11 million shekels ($2.9 million) to promote gay tourism.

The use of LGBT rights to score propaganda points is nothing new, nor is the gay tourism campaign. In his UN speeches, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never missed an opportunity to argue that Iran hangs its gay people while Israel holds pride parades. And he warmly welcomed Amir Ohana, who is gay, when the fellow Likudnik became a Knesset member.

But the gap between the painted plane and recent Knesset votes nixing LGBT rights bills, as well as between the budget LGBT groups receive and the budget for gay tourism, shows that the state has commandeered the gay community and its less-than-full rights for public-diplomacy purposes.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.715335