It’s Pride time now here in NYC, with parades and festivals throughout the month. Other Pride celebrations will be going on worldwide all summer.  I don’t really see LGBTQ Pride as an opportunity to promote rape and religious and ethnic divisiveness, but apparently the editors of TimeOut Tel Aviv felt differently. My good friend at Dang…Globalization is Heavy wrote this week about the publication’s Pride cover.

The Hebrew text on the above cover image of praying Muslim men reads: “You See a Threat, We See an Opportunity.”

I’ll let the LGBTQ, feminist and human rights organizations in Palestine and Israel who have written a letter in protest of this disturbing tag-line speak for themselves:

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.