I thought it was interesting when Birth Right trips were discussed. I am very familiar with this program and I have friends who have done it. This reading causedme to view this prgram differently. I was unaware that Birth Right is used for pinkwashing. The author explains how these trips show off Israel’s LGBTQ friendly image but leave out important truths like how LGBTQ Palestinian Jews are being poorly treated. To the rest of the world, everything looks fine, but the truth is hidden and the trips ignore the voices of queer Palestinians. I understand where the author is coming from when they claim the trips are dishonest.
The reading criticizes an Israeli named Jayson Littman who supports Birth Right. Perossnally, I dont complelty agree with the author when they say that Littman uses the fact that there is homophobia in Palestine to try to shut down any criticism of Israel. Based on persoanl experiences and information I have learned over time, there is significantly more homophibia in Palestine than Israel. Pink washing may be present to a certain degree, but Palestine tends to follow more traditional ideologies compared to Israel’s progressiveness and modern ideologies. Is Birth Right perfect in terms of supporting LGBTQ Palestinians? No. They can potentially incorprate lessons on this topic into the program.
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