LGBTQ rights in Palestine

Map of the two Palestinian territories, highlighted in green: the West Bank (right) and the Gaza Strip (left)

Legal status| Mixed legality:

* West Bank – legal since 1951, equal age of consent
* Gaza Strip – unclear (see "Legal status and criminal law" section)

Family rights
Recognition of relationships| No recognition of same-sex couples
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Timeline

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Related

* Discrimination
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LGBTQ portal

* v
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Homosexuality in Palestine is considered a taboo subject, with LGBTQ people often experiencing persecution and violence. There is a significant legal divide between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with the former having more progressive laws and the latter having more conservative laws. Shortly after the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank in 1950, same-sex acts were decriminalized across the territory with the adoption of the Jordanian Penal Code of 1951. In the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip and under Hamas' rule, however, no such initiative was implemented.

## Legal status and criminal law

[edit]

On 18 September 1936, the criminal code of Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate Criminal Code, which drew from Ottoman law or English law,[1] was enacted. Section 152(1)(b)(c) of the code states that any person who "commits an act of sodomy with any person against his will by the use of force or threats" or "commits an act of sodomy with a child under the age of sixteen years" is liable for imprisonment up to 14 years, while Section 152(2)(b) states that anyone who has "carnal knowledge" of anyone acting "against the law of nature" is liable for a prison term up to 10 years.[2] Palestinian academic Sa'ed Atshan argued that this criminal code was an example of British export of homophobia to the Global South.[3] The present applicability of this law is disputed. The Human Dignity Trust states that the criminal code is still "in operation" in Gaza albeit with scarce evidence of its enforcement,[4] and Human Rights Watch states that the criminal code is still "in force" in Gaza.[5] Amnesty International does not report same-sex sexual activity as being illegal in any Palestinian territory but emphasizes that Palestinian authorities do not stop, prevent or investigate homophobic and transphobic threats and attacks.[6] The editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Yearbook of International Law, Anis. F. Kassim argued that the criminal code could be "interpreted as allowing homosexuality."[7][8]

The decriminalization of homosexuality in Palestine is a patchwork. On the one hand, the British Mandate Criminal Code was in force in Jordan until 1951, with the Jordanian Penal Code having "no prohibition on sexual acts between persons of the same sex," which applied to the West Bank,[5] while Israel stopped using the code in 1977.[9] On the other, the Palestinian Authority has not legislated either for or against homosexuality. Legalistically, the confused legal legacy of foreign occupation – Ottoman, British, Jordanian, Egyptian and Israeli – continues to determine the erratic application or non-application of the criminal law to same-sex activity and gender variance in each of the territories.[10] A correction issued by the Associated Press in August 2015 stated that homosexuality is not banned by law in the Gaza Strip or West Bank, but is "largely taboo," and added "there are no laws specifically banning homosexual acts."[11]

In 2018, Human Rights Watch noted that laws in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip include a combination of unified laws passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council and ratified by the President of Palestine, and stated that laws from the former British Mandate, Egypt, and Jordan still apply when unified laws have not been issued. However, HRW added that Hamas has issued separate decrees and has not applied presidential decrees by the President of Palestine.[12] Also, the organization reported that articles 258 and 263 of the draft penal code, in 2003, for Palestine, contained "provisions that criminalize adult consensual same sex conduct". However, it is not known whether this code, which prohibited sexual intercourse with women who are over 18 in an "illicit manner" with imprisonment, a prison term of up to five years if they are related to the said woman or up to ten years for those who engage in rape, and up to five years in prison for a male who "commits the act of sodomy with another male", was implemented.[13][12] There have also been attempts by the Gazan legislative body, following Hamas's takeover of Gaza, to "amend or replace the British Mandatory Penal Code" with a proposed change in 2013, including "flogging for adultery" but it did not pass the legislature.[14]

## Civil rights and violence

[edit]

See also: Capital punishment for homosexuality

In the State of Palestine, there is no specific, stand-alone civil rights legislation that protects LGBTQ people from discrimination or harassment. Additionally, there have been relatively few murders of LGBTQ (or allegedly LGBTQ) people in Palestine, and the victim's sexuality was the primary motive in a case in April 2023, noted below.

### West Bank

[edit]

In August 2019, the Palestinian Authority announced that LGBTQ groups were forbidden to meet in the West Bank on the grounds that they are "harmful to the higher values and ideals of Palestinian society". This was in response to a planned conference in Nablus by Al-Qaws, a Palestinian LGBTQ group.[15][16][17] Following backlash, the ban was later withdrawn.[18]

In October 2022, Palestinian police arrested a suspect who beheaded a 25-year-old male Palestinian, Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, who was seeking asylum in Israel "because he was gay." At the time, it was reported that 90 Palestinians who identified with the LGBTQ community lived "as asylum seekers in Israel".[19][20]

### Gaza Strip

[edit]

Scholar Timea Spitka stated that in Gaza, coming out is a "death sentence" because police do not act against queerphobic violence, domestic violence is not criminalized, and civil society organizations, which protect women and children, are reported to be "vulnerable to attack." Spika added, in a related article, that this vulnerability has "been exploited by Israel," noting a connection between the Israeli occupation, lack of security and protection for women and non-heterosexual people, and lack of rule of law.[21][22] In 2019, Haaretz interviewed four gay men and one gay woman living in Gaza, who recounted their experiences: one man recounted his rough treatment by Hamas members, while others said they feared being arrested, outed, then forced into heterosexual marriage by their families. All four said that social media was a "game changer" in meeting other LGBTQ individuals, but some feared catfishing by undercover Hamas or Israeli intelligence agents.[23] Gay men who flirt with Israeli soldiers on dating apps, worry about being catfished by Hamas's security services.[24][8]

Some interpretations of Palestinian law say that it does not outlaw consensual gay sex between adults. Anis. F. Kassim (editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Yearbook of International Law) said that Palestinian law (even in Gaza) could be interpreted as allowing non-commercial sex between consenting adult men.[8]

### Israel

[edit]

It has been reported that the hostilities LGBTQ Palestinians face has led to many seeking refuge in other countries, including Israel.[25] The Israeli LGBTQ organization The Aguda stated in 2013 that around 2,000 Palestinian homosexuals live in Tel Aviv "at any one time."[26]

However, the complex legal status of the Palestinian territories results in almost no assistance from most countries afforded to LGBTQ Palestinians. Some have reported that while hundreds of them have fled to Israel, they have been subject to house arrest or deportation by Israeli authorities.[27] According to +972 Magazine, LGBTQ Palestinians seeking refuge in Israel "are routinely excluded from programs that are meant to secure basic healthcare for other asylum seekers" and that "their access to basic social rights such as shelter is also blocked."[28] In June 2022, Israel began issuing work permits for gay Palestinian refugees, who had been granted asylum, and those "fleeing domestic violence."[29] Prior to the rule change, the Israeli government resisted changing the terms for issuing permits, fearing it would "encourage more Palestinians to flee to Israel and seek asylum."[30]

In mid-2022, the Israeli government told the Israeli High Court that LGBTQ Palestinians from the West Bank who were "fleeing persecution" could work in Israel but that their presence was only temporary "in order to find a permanent solution in the [West Bank] or in another country."[29] A month after the murder, The Times of Israel noted that gay Palestinians who leave the West Bank, with public opinion polls indicating low tolerance for homosexuality, and arrive in Israel are faced with "an existence filled with dizzying uncertainties and life-threatening hazards." The article went on to say that such Palestinians have various escape routes to Israel, but that making them eligible for permanent residency includes "working with Israeli security forces" although those forces have been accused of blackmailing Palestinians into becoming informants for Israeli intelligence services; only "select few who have passed on invaluable knowledge" are granted this kind of permit, which requires the sign-off of the prime minister.[31]

## Israeli–Palestinian conflict

[edit]

### Activism

[edit]

Protesters with sign Queers Against Israeli Apartheid in Edmonton (2011)

In 2010, the organization Palestinian Queers for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (PQBDS) was formed, aimed at challenging Israeli representation of gay life in Palestine and pinkwashing. They also run a website called Pinkwatching Israel.[32]

Palestinian queer organizations such as Al Qaws describe themselves as "queer-feminist" and anti-colonial in regards to the Israeli-occupied territories,[33] and caution against rendering all of the progressive forces inside Palestine invisible, including erasing the queer Palestinian movement's achievements, describing it as a form of violence.[34] In relation to a ban on conversion therapy in Israel, activists such as Maisan Hamdan criticized the conservative Islamic Movement, which is active in Israel and parts of the Knesset, who voted against the ban. Hamdan states that the sole effort of the movement is Palestine's liberation, without inclusion of LGBTQ rights, and stated that these two efforts (liberating Palestine and liberating queer people) should proceed together.[35]

During the 2023 Gaza war, some Palestinians, who considered themselves part of the LGBTQ community, shared information in anonymously geotagged posts on Queering the Map, a community-based online collaborative and counter-mapping platform. It was said by Time that this provided a "rare glimpse" into perspectives of queer Palestinians, with many messages expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause.[36] Others stated that Palestinians were sharing their "last words" on the platform.[37]

### Alleged blackmailing by the Israeli military

[edit]

There have been reports that Palestinian Authority police kept files on gay Palestinians and that Israeli intelligence has blackmailed gay Palestinians into becoming informants.[38][39] In 2014, 43 veterans of the Israeli Intelligence Corps signed an open letter alleging that Unit 8200 used coercive intelligence tactics on Palestinians, including using information on sexual orientation.[40] HIAS has claimed that "there are ample testimonies and records that LGBTQ living in the Palestinian Authority are persecuted over suspected collaboration with the Israeli security services."[28]

In April 2023, it was reported that Zuhair Relit (also known as Zoheir Khalil Ghalith), a Palestinian living in Nablus, was killed by the Lions' Den militant group for collaborating with the IDF. Relit alleged he was blackmailed into becoming an informant for the Israeli military, with his confessional video on social media claiming that Shin Bet had an "illicit video" showing him doing something sexual with a male partner. He was later executed by the Lions' Den group.[41][42][43][44] Persecution of – and discrimination against – suspected gay men by Al Qassam and the police in Gaza is also largely attributable to them being suspected informants.[8]

## LGBTQ rights activism

[edit]

Logo of Al Qaws, the leading organization for Palestinian LGBTQ rights. The group was briefly banned in 2019 before being reinstated after a backlash.

See also: Pinkwashing (LGBTQ) § Israel

In the early 2000s, two established groups formed to provide support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) Palestinian people living within the borders of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Al Qaws ("The bow" in Arabic, referencing a rainbow), the first official Palestinian LGBTQ organization, was founded in 2001 as a community project of the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance[45] to specifically address the needs of LGBTQ Palestinian people living in Jerusalem.[32]

In 2015, a Palestinian artist named Khaled Jarrar painted a rainbow flag on a section of a West Bank wall, and a group of Palestinians painted over it. Jarrar said that he painted the rainbow flag to remind people that although same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States, Palestinians still live in occupation, and criticized the paint-over, stating that it "reflects the absence of tolerance, and freedoms in the Palestinian society".[46]

### Aswat

[edit]

In 2002, a second group formed to specifically address the needs of Palestinian lesbian women, named Aswat ("Voices" in Arabic), was founded and based in Israel as a project of the Palestinian feminist NGO Kayan, at the Haifa Feminist Center. Aswat started as an anonymous email-list serving to provide support to Palestinian gay women, and developed into an established working group, translating and developing original texts related to gender identity and sexuality into Arabic.[32][47] Aswat's efforts brought results, while also facing multi-faceted challenges. In 2003, co-founder Rauda Morcos was outed by the Israeli tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth after agreeing to an interview, despite asking her sexual orientation not be included in the article, which led to significant personal backlash.[48]

In 2007, Aswat held its first public conference in Haifa, Israel: 350 people attended the event, which marked the first five years of the organization's existence and the publication of a new book in Arabic about lesbian and gay identity. The conference was reported to be problem-free, although it met opposition by the Islamic Movement in Israel (a grouping of Arab Muslims), which publicly called for the meeting to be cancelled, and urged its community "to stand against the campaign to market sexual deviance among our daughters and our women" resulting in some 30 people protesting outside the venue; the same group issued a fatwa against Rauda Morcos because, Morcos said, "according to them I was 'the snake’s head'".[49][48][35]

Nisreen Mazzawi, co-founder of Aswat, stated that LGBTQ Palestinians, being stateless, face "oppression, whether conscious or unconscious, also within Israeli organizations" because "LGBTQ Israelis identify with the state even before their queer identity, and they will not stand with LGBTQ Palestinians simply because both are queer. They will fight against Jewish homophobes, but ... (LGBTQ) Palestinians will remain on their own".[35] In 2004, Aswat had 14 members.[50] In 2007, the group, which includes women from the West Bank and Gaza, had 30 active members and about 50 women participating in the email list.[51]

## Summary table

[edit]

Same-sex sexual activity legal  | West Bank:
Legal since 1951 for males; always been legal for females
Gaza:
Males (and females): No consensus on legal applicability of British 1936 Sexual offences provisions to homosexual conduct

|

Equal age of consent  | West Bank:  (18 years)
Gaza:  For males /  For females
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only  |
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services  |
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)  |
Same-sex marriages  |
Recognition of same-sex couples  |
Step-child adoption by same-sex couples  |
Joint adoption by same-sex couples  |
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military  |
Right to change legal gender  |
Access to IVF for lesbians  |
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples  |
MSM allowed to donate blood  |

## Public opinions

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Polls of public sentiment towards LGBTQ people in the Palestinian territories find it is overwhelmingly negative. A Global Acceptance Index (a measure of the relative level of social acceptance of LGBTI people and rights) report ranked Palestine at 130, noting that very little change in acceptance occurred between 2010 and 2020.[52]

### Islamist opposition

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to itadding to it or making an edit request. (August 2024)

|

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement (the political wing of the Mujahideen Brigades) and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs Assembly for Da'wah have been critical of UNRWA promoting what the groups see as un-Islamic values, including LGBTQ issues.[53]

## See also

[edit]

* LGBTQ portal
* Palestine portal

* Human rights in Palestine
* LGBTQ rights in Israel
* LGBTQ rights in the Middle East
* LGBTQ rights in Asia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Abrams, Normal (January 1972). "Interpreting the Criminal Code Ordinance, 1936 – The Untapped Well". Israel Law Review. 7 (1): 25–64\. doi:10.1017/S0021223700003411. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
2. ^ An Ordinance to Provide a General Penal Code for Palestine (PDF) (Ordinance Chapter XVIII. Offenses Against Morality, Section 152). Office of the British High Commissioner for Palestine. 18 September 1936. p. 1005\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 July 2023.
3. ^ Raza-Sheikh, Zoya (29 June 2023). "Why the LGBTQ+ community should care about Palestine". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
4. ^ "Palestine". Human Dignity Trust. 15 February 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
5. ^ a b Annex: Laws Prohibiting or Used to Punish Same-Sex Conduct and Gender Expression in the Middle East and North Africa (PDF) (Report). Human Rights Watch. April 2018. p. 71\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023. This comes from a HRW report Archived 4 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine adding "laws differ in Gaza and the West Bank due to colonial history."
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8. ^ a b c d Abusalim, Dorgham (7 March 2018). "The Real Oppressors of Gaza's Gay Community: Hamas or Israel?". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
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17. ^ Cooper, Alex (19 August 2019). "Palestinian police vow crackdown on LGBTQ events in West Bank". NBC News. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
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19. ^ "Gay Palestinian Ahmad Abu Marhia beheaded in West Bank". BBC News. 7 October 2022. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
20. ^ Debre, Israel (1 October 2022). "Shock, questions after gruesome killing of gay Palestinian". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
21. ^ Spika, Timea (12 April 2023). "Children as Victims and Activists in the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict". National and International Civilian Protection Strategies in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 107–136\. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20390-9_4. ISBN 978-3-031-20390-9. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
22. ^ Spika, Timea (2019). "The Myth of Protection: Gendering Protection under the Responsibility to Protect in Gaza". Global Responsibility to Protect. 11 (1): 77–103\. doi:10.1163/1875984X-01101005. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. ALT Version Archived 27 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ Lamant, Marc (25 June 2019). "Pride and Prejudice: The Hellish Life of Gaza's LGBTQ Community". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
24. ^ Rozovsky, Liza (21 February 2018). "What It's Like to Be Gay in Gaza: Meeting Israelis on Dating Apps, Evading Hamas and Plotting Escape". Haaretz. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
25. ^ "In Limbo – Palestinian gays". Radio Netherlands. 8 August 2004. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
26. ^ "Revealed: Israel is a gay Mecca – New York Times promotes a pink-washed democracy". An-Nahar. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
27. ^ "Palestinian gays flee to Israel". BBC News. 22 October 2003. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
28. ^ a b Ben David, Tamar (17 September 2021). "'I'd rather die in the West Bank': LGBTQ Palestinians find no safety in Israel". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
29. ^ a b Boxerman, Aaron (29 June 2022). "Israel to allow LGBT Palestinians granted temporary asylum to work". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
30. ^ Peleg, Bar; Shezaf, Hegar (20 June 2022). "Israel to Give Work Permits to LGBT Palestinians Granted Asylum". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
31. ^ Mukand, Jack (22 November 2022). "Ghastly beheading lays bare the myriad perils for LGBT Palestinians fleeing to Israel". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
32. ^ a b c Abdelmoez, Joel W. (2021), Rosenberg, Tiina; D'Urso, Sandra; Winget, Anna Renée (eds.), "Deviants, Queers, or Scissoring Sisters of Men?: Translating and Locating Queer and Trans Feminisms in the Contemporary Arabic-Speaking World", The Palgrave Handbook of Queer and Trans Feminisms in Contemporary Performance, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 283–301, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-69555-2_16, ISBN 978-3-030-69554-5, S2CID 240561329, archived from the original on 27 April 2024, retrieved 1 November 2023
33. ^ "About Us". Al Qaws. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
34. ^ Maikey, Haneen; Aked, Hilary (3 March 2019). "Eurovision has turned into a 'pinkwashing' opportunity for Israel – the LGBT+ community should boycott it". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
35. ^ a b c "'A queer cry for freedom': Meet the LGBTQ Palestinians demanding liberation". +972 Magazine. 2 August 2020. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
36. ^ "In Gaza, 'Queering the Map' Reveals Heartbreaking Notes of LGBT Love and Loss". Time. 20 October 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
37. ^ Denny (18 October 2023). "LGBTQ Palestinians in Gaza are sharing their last words on an online mapping platform". Reckon. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
38. ^ O'Connor, Nigel (19 February 2013). "Gay Palestinians Are Being Blackmailed into Working As Informants United Kingdom". Vice. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
39. ^ Barshad, Amos (9 March 2021). "Inside Israel's lucrative – and secretive —cybersurveillance industry". Rest of World. Retrieved 3 September 2024. ""Most Israelis think that intelligence is pure and slick", he says. He came to see IDF intelligence as blunt, dirty work. "Old school things", he says. Like blackmailing gay Palestinians, he explains."
40. ^ Reed, John (10 July 2015). "Unit 8200: Israel's cyber spy agency". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
41. ^ "Palestinian terror group Lion's Den claims it executed an Israeli spy in Nablus". The Times of Israel. 9 April 2023. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
42. ^ "Lions' Den execute man accused of informing for Israel". The New Arab. 10 April 2023. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
43. ^ Amun, Fadi (9 April 2023). "Militant Group Lion's Den Announces Execution of Palestinian for Collaborating With Israel". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
44. ^ "Fearing Israeli retaliation, Lions' Den chief turns himself in to PA". i24News. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
45. ^ Maikey, Haneen. "Rainbow over Palestine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
46. ^ Daraghmeh, Mohammed; Deitch, Ian (30 June 2015). "Rainbow flag on West Bank barrier touches nerve for Palestinians". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
47. ^ "Information & Publication". Aswat Group. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
48. ^ a b Morcos, Rauda (2012–2023). "Between Patriarchy and Occupation: Rauda Morcos and Palestinian Lesbian Activism for Bodily Rights". al-raida (Interview). Interviewed by Habib, Samar; Moujaes, Nayla. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023 - via Academia.edu.
49. ^ "Rauda Morcos". The Advocate. 8 May 2006. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
50. ^ Glenn Kauth (15 September 2004). "A language no one else is speaking". Xtra Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
51. ^ "I'm still alive". New Internationalist. 1 June 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
52. ^ thisisloyal.com, Loyal |. "Social Acceptance of LGBTI People in 175 Countries and Locations". Williams Institute. Archived from the original on 13 September 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
53. ^ "مجمع الخلفاء الراشدين الدعوي يدين ويستنكر توزيع وكالة غوث وتشغيل اللاجئين الفلسطينيين "الأونروا" نشرات مخالفة لشريعتنا الإسلامية The Rashidun Caliphs Assembly for Da'wah condemns and denounces the distribution of leaflets by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) that violate our Islamic Sharia". حركة المجاهدين الفلسطينية (Palestinian Mujahideen Movement). 16 September 2023. Archived from the original on 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024. "The Dawa Academy believes that these publications clearly and blatantly violate the feelings of Muslims, call for the spread of vice, contradict the traditions of our Palestinian people, and violate the teachings of our tolerant Hanafi law. The Council also believes that the so-called gay rights are completely rejected and have no place in our conservative Palestinian society." Quote in Arabic:
ويرى المجمع الدعوي أنّ هذه النشرات تنتهك بشكل واضح وفاضح مشاعر المسلمين، وتدعو لنشر للرذيلة، وتتناقض مع تقاليد شعبنا الفلسطيني، وتخالف تعاليم شريعتنا الحنفية السمحة، كما ويرى المجمع أنَّ ما يسمى بحقوق المثليين مرفوضة جملةً وتفصيلًا، وليس لها مكان في مجتمعنا الفلسطيني المحافظ.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Atshan, Sa'ed (2020). Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique. Redwood City, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-0994-5.
* Schulman, Sarah (2012). Israel/Palestine and the Queer International. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-5373-7.

## External links

[edit]

* 'A queer cry for freedom': Meet the LGBTQ Palestinians demanding liberation, +972 Magazine

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* t
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