The Palestinian LGBTQ community isn’t used to being at the heart of their society’s most heated political debates. Yet in the months leading up to Israel’s fourth election in two years, queer Palestinians are now being pushed to center stage.
In an interview earlier this month that went viral on Arabic and Hebrew social media, Ahmad Tibi, one of the most prominent Palestinian members of Knesset, stated that he was against the promotion of what he called “the LGBTQ phenomenon.” His party Ta’al, he said, rejects any legislation that promotes LGBTQ rights, opposes pride marches, and believes LGBTQ individuals should not be allowed into classrooms to meet with schoolchildren as part of the curriculum.
Following pressure, Israel begins vaccination drive for Palestinian workers
Thousands of Palestinian workers arrived at West Bank checkpoints to receive jabs following criticism of Israel s refusal to provide them COVID-19 vaccines.
A Palestinian worker is vaccinated at a makeshift vaccine site at the Meitar checkpoint in the southern West Bank, March 8. (Oren Ziv)
After weeks of delays, Israel on Monday finally launched a two-week campaign to vaccinate the 100,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who work in Israel.
Hundreds of Palestinians arrived at the Meitar checkpoint in the southern West Bank on Monday morning to receive the vaccination. After checking their entry permits and registering them, Israeli soldiers medical personnel vaccinated the workers on the Israeli side of the checkpoint.
Arthur Finkelstein and Benjamin Netanyahu in March 10, 1999. (Flash 90)
He didn’t say a word.
American pollster John McLaughlin stood nearly stock-still next to Benjamin Netanyahu as the prime minister filmed yet another campaign ad ahead of the September 2019 election. Speaking Hebrew, Netanyahu frantically warned voters that his opponents from the Blue and White party were working with Arab lawmakers to place his continued stay in Balfour Street at risk.
Netanyahu didn’t introduce McLaughlin or even acknowledge him, and he didn’t need to. The pollster’s presence appeared designed solely to grant an extra dose of legitimacy to Netanyahu’s words: It wasn’t just the prime minister who thought right-wing voters should avoid casting their ballots for parties other than Likud. The stern-faced consultant nodding periodically alongside him thought so as well, and he’d come all the way from America to raise the alarm.
Israeli forces conduct a drill inside a community in the Massafer Yatta area of the West Bank on 3 February, causing damage to infrastructure, agricultural land and residential structures in an area where Israel has been try to expel Palestinian residents for decades.
Keren Manor
ActiveStills
During the month of February, an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian at an outpost built on land belonging to Ras Karkar, the central West Bank town where the slain man was from.
The Israeli military claimed that Khaled Nufal, 24, was shot after attempting to break into the home of Eitan Ze’ev in the early hours of 5 February.
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