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Israeli-colored rainbow flags and balloons declaring "I love Israel" garnered 400,000 spectators at this year's Berlin Pride Festival, beating German flags extensively during the city's 40-year history for the rights of homobaduals. The love, sponsored by the Israeli Embbady in Berlin, has arrived at a significant turning point in Israel's relations with the LGBT community, after unprecedented protests against a new law on surrogacy that excludes gay fathers in a gay friendly country. the world.
An Israeli stand at the festival closing the annual Pride Parade in Berlin has become a tradition in recent years. This year, the expected performance of the winner of the Israeli Eurovision Netta Barzilai (canceled at the last minute due to a strong storm) boosted the demand for Israeli flags
On the booth, the partygoers could also receive stickers about the state of Israel and its traditions, and a button with their name written in Hebrew. At the same time, a promotional video of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, broadcasting a combined trip to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, was featured on a big screen next to the festival's main stage
. Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to protest against a discriminatory surrogacy law bill that excludes the gay community – not only prompted criticism from local BDS activists, but also sparked criticism. Indignation of Israeli LGBT rights activists. "longdesc =" A stand promoting Israel at Berlin's pride parade "src =" https://cdn.i24news.tv/upload/cache/large_content_image/upload/image/1dc93a961e17c26390431286a32d3d1d94a57b66.jpg "style =" width: 100%; "title = "A booth promoting Israel at Berlin's pride parade" />
"Hypocrisy knows no bounds," accused Ohad Hizki, executive director of Aguda, the Israeli national LGBT task force "One arm of the government denies the fundamental rights of the LGBT community and the other branch markets the country to LGBT tourists from around the world." It's time to put up in Hebrew what the state says to people in English, German and French – a country that invites LGBT people not only as guests but above all as citizens with equal rights. "
Yair Hochner, founder and director of the Festival LGBT from Tel Aviv, also attended the parade on Saturday. "It hurts me to see how our country is using the incredible Israeli LGBT community while at the same time it is pbading laws against us and creating legal obstacles for us," he wrote. the next day on Facebook
. The Israeli stand "spits in the face of the gay community in Israel," he added. "We are exploited to promote an economic tourism agenda and a false propaganda, as if everything was for the LGBT community in Israel.If I can think of a word [to describe this] it's Pinkwashing."
"Pinkwashing" is a term used by activists to describe what they say the Israeli government is drawing attention to the country's relatively open attitude towards gay rights. to divert attention from its policies regarding Palestinians and other restrictive policies, including marriage rights.
Hochner announced that in protest, he will no longer collaborate with "Stop helping the government to use us cynically to promote his lies. as if we had all the rights and we are happy, we can not let the Israeli government exploit the Israeli gay community abroad while it deliberately harms us in Israel. "
A few days before parade, the Israeli Embbady staged the third Queer Movie Night, with a film about a teen bad love affair, a documentary on the emergence of the gay community in Israel in the years 1979-1998 and a documentary telling the story of a transgender survivor of the Holocaust aspiring to be an actress.
But a question-and-answer session with director Yair Qedar A "Berlin Against Pinkwashing" activist diverted the debate
. A handful of BDS activists also rallied outside, waving the "No Pride in Israel Apartheid" banner, but were kept at the door. length by the security guards of the embbady and the German police. An activist registered at the event and was denied entry.
"I'm Israeli, I'm a bad and I do not have the right to come in," she told the people in line. "They call me a security risk."
Protesters against Pinkwashing also attempted to disrupt the activity of the Israeli Embbady's booth. "They just introduced themselves, pinned a stupid sticker to my shirt and kicked the sign," said a staff member at i24NEWS . "But the German police did not delay responding."
About two dozen Israelis, Jewish activists and sympathizers participated in the march, waving placards such as "100% hummusbadual" and "I hava your nagila".
At a certain distance from the Israeli group stood András, a student from Budapest, wearing a rainbow yarmulke and waving a large, colorful Israeli flag on the trucks pbading in front of him. "I made this flag myself, to take with me demonstrations in Hungary," he said to i24NEWS . "I am so happy that here I can shake it with pride and not with fear."
"I find it sad that BDS comes here and calls us to boycott for showing our support for LGBT rights," said Dalia Grinfeld, President of the German Jewish Students' Union. "It's the wrong place and the wrong time for BDS to say we're not allowed here, Israel should be here, and the Jews should be here, to show that in our religion we're also with the LGBT community. "
Polina Garaev is a correspondent for i24NEWS in Germany.
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