As a queer Jewish artist who has spent time in Palestine and Israel, I think about my ancestors who were murdered and displaced by the Russian pogroms. I think about the Jewish saying ‘never again’ that encourages all of us to be vigilant in the face of injustice. And I see that injustice now, in the horrific violence the Israeli government is inflicting on Palestinian civilians that has killed over 10,000 people in Gaza in an ongoing genocide. I steadfastly condemn Hamas’s brutal massacre of Israelis on October 7. But, as we saw with our own government’s response to the 9/11 attacks, vengeance does not create the conditions for safety or long-lasting peace.
Israeli Pinkwashing positions Israel as an accepting oasis in a desert of homophobia and transphobia. But we know that bombs do not discriminate- and queer Palestinians are being impacted in the siege on Gaza. This diversionary tactic is a tool to support the continued occupation of Palestine, and erases the resistance of Israeli and Palestinian queer artists and activists. None of us are free until all of us are free.
People around the world are in mourning.
We stand against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in our communities.
We stand against U.S. government policies and actions that actively enable ongoing violence and injustice.
“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” -Audre Lorde
National Queer Theater is a social justice organization, and our collective liberation as queer people is bound in the liberation of all oppressed people around the world.
Join the call- ceasefire now!
-Adam Odsess-Rubin, Founding Artistic Director
Toolkit and resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hpHkM9KlH5Yn3xq7nk9xfPtIkWZDblWnCKD8xt5DBx0/edit