The British Mandate brought anti-sodomy laws to Palestine, a legacy that the […] occupation kept. The French Mandate brought anti-sodomy laws to Lebanon; that’s what Helem is fighting.

Now, today, here, with its first publication, this important anthology, Aswat is opening up a dialogue [in Arabic] with your own people in your own language about your own culture within your own history—​a part of the struggle of the Palestinian people towards the liberation they so richly deserve. You are developing a language of persuasion.

The discussion may not be an easy one—​profound and lasting transformation rarely is—​but those of us who defend your right to self-determination, your sovereignty, will defend the right of the Palestinian people to carry out their internal dialogue without [neocolonial] or U.S. interference or political manipulation.

Today there are some who will try to separate Aswat from the Palestinian struggle and only relate to you on the basis of a universal sexual identity. But those who support your self-determination will not forget that you are linguistically translating your culture, your lives and your self-identities and your struggle to make it easier for those of us who are not fluent in Arabic to understand. But that does not mean that identities like lesbian, gay, bi, transgender, transsexual, intersexual have one universal meaning in all places, for all peoples, for all cultures or in all historical periods.

Colonialism and imperialism have always tried to foment conflicts in order to divide and conquer. In the case of Palestinians, as [the Lebanese LGBTQIA+ group] Helem concluded, “[T]he rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders should not be placed in competition with the long struggle of the Palestinian people, including Palestinian LGBT people, for self-determination, for the right to return to their homes, and the struggle against apartheid and the occupation of their lands.”

Today we see how the [neo]imperialists—​the U.S. to [its neocolony]—​use the experiences of women, of gays, of transgenders as pretexts for [neo]imperialist war. The white supremacist ideology replaces the colonial claim of “bringing civilization” into [neo]imperialist claims that they are “bringing democracy.” But Washington and Tel Aviv have brought ruthless reactionary occupations to the Middle East.