Al Qaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: القوس للتعددية الجنسية والجندرية في المجتمع الفلسطيني), often referred to as "alQaws" ("The

ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...

ow") , is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

civil society organization founded in

grassroots activism A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

, aiming to be at the forefront of Palestinian cultural and

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...

. The organization works to build

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

+ and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

communities and promote new ideas about the role of

gender and sexual diversity Gender and sexual diversity (GSD), or simply sexual diversity, refers to all the diversities of sex characteristics, sexual orientations and gender identities, without the need to specify each of the identities, behaviors, or characteristics that ...

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, civil society institutions, media, and everyday life. The organization describes itself as " queer-feminist" and "

anti-colonial Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence m ...

" in regards to the

Israeli-occupied territories Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...

. In August 2019, the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

banned Al Qaws from operating in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. The ban was later withdrawn by the end of the month following backlash.

History

The organization started as an independent local project formed by the

Jerusalem Open House The Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (JOH, he, הבית הפתוח בירושלים לגאווה ולסובלנות ''HaBayit HaPatuach'', "Open House" ar, البيت المفتوح في القدس للفخر والتسامح ''Al- ...

in 2001. The group split-off and was formally established as Al Qaws in 2007 and became quickly the main NGO advocating for LGBT+ rights in the country. Al Qaws continues to run workspaces and active programs in various locations throughout rural and urban Palestinian communities. Their activities include a national hotline with a team dedicated to supporting transgender people, local community discussion events about sexuality entitled "Hawamesh", and a training program for leaders in Palestinian institutions such as schools, youth groups, and human rights organizations. In 2011, Al Qaws,

Aswat Aswat - Palestinian Feminist Center for Gender and Sexual Freedoms, also known as Aswat , is a feminist organization that advocates for lesbians and other LGBT women in the Palestinian community. The group was founded in 2003, making it the first P ...

and LGBTQ activist

Sarah Schulman Sarah Miriam Schulman (born July 28, 1958) is an American novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, gay activist, and AIDS historian. She is a Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at College of Staten Island (CSI) and a Fellow a ...

joined to organize a delegation of several LGBT people from the United States to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. In 2012, the document "An Open Letter to LGBTQ Communities in the Israeli Occupation of Palestine" was published by the delegation. In 2013, Al Qaws brought together 70 Palestinians, including well-known singers, music technicians, and community members, to reach out to young Palestinians through alternative music and pop culture. In 2014, Al Qaws co-signed a document with other civil organizations calling for an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes committed during the

2014 Israel–Gaza conflict The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territories, Pale ...

. In April 2019, Al Qaws and activist group Pinkwatching Israel called for a Palestinian boycott of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...

, hosted by Israel, in opposition to " pinkwashing". On July 26, 2019, a 16-year-old teen from the

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

town of

Tamra Tamra ( ar, طمرة, he, טַמְרָה or ) is an Arab city in the North District of Israel located in the Lower Galilee north of the city of Shefa-Amr and approximately east of Acre. In it had a population of . History Tamra is an ancient ...

was stabbed by his brother near a shelter for LGBT youth because of his sexual orientation / gender identity. The event was the subject of considerable debate in Palestinian society, leading to a statement being released on July 27, 2019, by Al Qaws and signed by more than thirty Palestinian institutions condemning violence towards people with different sexual and gender orientations. Public debate also led to a demonstration led by alQaws on August 1, 2019, in partnership with several queer and feminist Palestinian organizations with more than 200 people gathering in Al-Aseer Square in Haifa. On August 17, 2019, the

spokesperson released a statement claiming to ban Al Qaws' activities in the

. The statement came following the increased visibility of Al Qaws' work on social media after widespread media coverage of the Haifa demonstration. This increased attention to the organization's social media pages led to some anger over Al Qaws' announcement of a discussion event that was held in

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

and the announcement of an upcoming queer youth camp. On August 27, 2019, the

rescinded the ban following backlash and condemnation from human rights groups.{{cite news, url=https://electronicintifada.net/content/pa-rescinds-ban-lgbtq-group-after-protests/28201, title=PA rescinds ban on LGBTQ group after protests, last1=Ashly, first1=Jaclynn, date=27 August 2019, access-date=31 August 2019, publisher=The Electronic Intifada

Location

Four centers are linked to the association. They are located in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

and

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

References

LGBT culture in Jerusalem LGBT rights organizations LGBT culture in the Arab world Human rights organizations based in the State of Palestine Organizations established in 2007 Queer feminism