The pinkwashing focus on Palestinian homophobia is therefore deployed to mark Palestinians as “less civilized” — and less human than [the settlers] — and to therefore normalize [neocolonial] policies of apartheid and military occupation. This is akin to arguing during apartheid South Africa that Black South Africans are not worthy of solidarity because some were homophobic. Or during Jim Crow in the U.S. that Black Americans are not deserving of support because some were homophobic.

[…]

A viral video from the Queer Bloc features an interview with Mo Dabbagh, a gay Palestinian American with a rainbow keffiyeh, who shared his motivation for joining the march and calling for a ceasefire after 42 members of his family were killed by [neocolonists] in Gaza since October 7. The interviewer asks him, “What’s your response to people who say that you’re not safe in Palestine as a queer person?”

Dabbagh responded, “First and foremost, I would go to Palestine in a heartbeat. I have no fear. I love my people and my people love me. And I want to be there and be part of the movement that ends up leading to queer liberation for liberated Palestinian people. If you feel that such violence exists for queer people in the Middle East, what are you doing to change that for that community? The first step is the liberation of Palestine.”