Dang, we’re not afraid of Muslims. We want to fuck them while they are performing their religious duties without much concern for the fact that this is offensive and may also qualify as rape.”

I am thinking it might be necessary to change the name of my blog to: Offensive stuff that happens in Israel.  (I also feel like i spend too much time talking about my blog identity crisis every time I write something.)

Anyways, this is the cover of TimeOut Tel Aviv’s Pride issue.  And I am coming to believe that Israelis are pretty awkward at executing anything Pride related without doing something totally racist and bonkers. So the copy in Hebrew here reads, “you see a threat, we see an opportunity.”

I”m sure who ever conceived of this project was certainly interested on some level in play and satire.  However, I guess the bad news for me is that I’m of the liberal-set that doesn’t think anything is funny.

There seems to some attempt at producing some queer-liberal narrative of the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis. Which basically amounts to:  “Der, we’re not afraid of Muslims. We want to fuck them while they are performing their religious duties without much concern for the fact that this is totally offensive and may also qualify as rape.”  This whole image and the concept the editors seem to lock in on is that queer sex somehow always equals something radical. Robert Reid-Pharr wrote quite excellently about this as it relates to American racial politics. Which, quite obviously, isn’t totally analogous to the the Israel/Palestine question, but seems pretty relevant nonetheless.  He writes, “We do not escape race and racism when we fuck. On the contrary, the fantasy of escape is precisely that which marks the sexual act as deeply implicated in the ideological processes by which difference in constructed and maintained.”

Below is a pretty tight letter from a bunch of folks in Israel and Palestine who think this is bonkers and racist.  Thanks to Yas for sending this my way.

To: Editor of “Time Out” Tel-Aviv Magazine

Eatie Waldman

editor@timeout.co.il

We were shocked to see the celebratory front page of the special edition of Time Out Tel-Aviv for the Pride week. We do not see any pride in the front page that depicts Muslims performing prayer under the caption: “You see here a threat, we see here an opportunity”. Even though the magazine pretends to be open minded, it did not reduce the deep disgrace we felt when seeing the image or reading the article, which is explicitly racist, violent and even homophobic. The editorial choice to use this particular image for the front page suggests total ignorance and racism.

Your celebratory front page mocks and humiliates Islam and Muslims by sexually objectifying their prayers, and it disseminates racist and violent messages. In this image, on the one hand, Islam is portrayed as a “threat”, a religion and people we must fear from and be repulsed by; on the other hand, the Muslim men praying are sexual objects. Such representation would not have been accepted if it was humiliating other religions. If such representation was of Jewish people, there would have been, rightfully, a storm of strong resistance.

The title of the front page suggests that violent, vulgar and disturbing sexual acts are “opportunities”. Opportunities of what, we ask? “To fuck Islam”? “To fuck Muslims”? Is it because “they are a threat”? Or they are “exotic”? Is this an opportunity to “fuck” the “enemy” and stab them in the back as they pray? Is anyone who turns their back an “opportunity” for rape?

In addition, the representation and reduction of gay men as seeking sex in any opportunity, and with anyone, is humiliating and homophobic. It suggests the ones who should be feared are gay men, who are portrayed as sexual abusers and violently manipulative. Pride week supposedly symbolizes the LGBTQ community struggle for equal rights, acceptance of the other. We protest the magazine’s use of the Pride weeks as a platform for racist and homophobic statements, mocking of the other, and promoting violent sexual objectification. All of this is shown in a sophisticated and glossy image and article which doesn’t promote any justice or tolerance.

We believe in the value of freedom of speech, and occasionally we amuse ourselves with humour and satire. We are not aiming at censoring anyone from expressing their opinions. Your choice of this image, as a celebratory front page, shows bad taste, confusion of values, and cultural insensitivity. The message of the image was racist, violent, and ignorant. These messages contradict Pride week’s goals. They are harmful to a point where a public apology from you is necessary.

Signed:

LGBTQ, feminist and human rights organizations in Palestine/Israel.