Israel/Palestine and the Queer International
by Sarah Schulman
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Description
At once a memoir, a call to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and an argument for queer solidarity across borders, this book tells the story of how novelist and activist Sarah Schulman's became aware of how issues of the Israeli occupation of Palestine were tied to her own gay and lesbian politics. "N this chronicle of political awakening and queer solidarity, the activist and novelist Sarah Schulman describes her dawning consciousness of the Palestinian liberation show more struggle. Invited to Israel to give the keynote address at an LGBT studies conference at Tel Aviv University, Schulman declines, joining other artists and academics honoring the Palestinian call for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Anti-occupation activists in the United States, Canada, Israel, and Palestine come together to help organize an alternative solidarity visit for the American activist. Schulman takes us to an anarchist, vegan café in Tel Aviv, where she meets anti-occupation queer Israelis, and through border checkpoints into the West Bank, where queer Palestinian activists welcome her into their spaces for conversations that will change the course of her life. She describes the dusty roads through the West Bank, where Palestinians are cut off from water and subjected to endless restrictions while Israeli settler neighborhoods have full freedoms and resources. As Schulman learns more, she questions the contradiction between Israel's investment in presenting itself as gay friendly - financially sponsoring gay film festivals and parades - and its denial of the rights of Palestinians. At the same time, she talks with straight Palestinian activists about their position in relation to homosexuality and gay rights in Palestine and internationally. Back in the United States, Schulman draws on her extensive activist experience to organize a speaking tour for some of the Palestinian queer leaders whom she had met and trusted. Dubbed "Al-Tour," it takes the activists to LGBT community centers, conferences, and universities throughout the United States. Its success solidifies her commitment to working to end Israel's occupation of Palestine, and it kindles her larger hope that a new "queer international" will emerge and join other movements demanding human rights across the globe"--Pub. desc. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
2012. Useful book to read especially if you’re Jewish. Schulman chronicles how she became aware of the truth about Israel/Palestine. She is fully in the BDS camp. It explains what pink-washing is: trying to make Israel seem good for the gays despite the fact that they are of course never good for the Palestinian gays (yes, there are Palestinian queers).
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Author Information
29+ Works 3,663 Members
Sarah Schulman is Distinguished Professor of English at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, USA. She is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, AIDS historian, journalist, and active participation citizen.
Awards and Honors
Awards
Notable Lists
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, LGBTQ+, Sexuality and Gender Studies, History, Politics and Government, General Nonfiction, Sociology
- DDC/MDS
- 956.05 — History & geography History of Asia Middle East Asia: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan Middle East 1980–
- LCC
- HQ76.2 .I75 .S38 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women Sexual life Homosexuality. Lesbianism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 68
- Popularity
- 460,882
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.33)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
