Argument · heard from pro-Israel voices
“'Queers for Palestine' is like chickens for KFC.”
LGBT activists marching for Palestine are cheering for a society where they would be persecuted, and in Gaza, for a movement that has killed gay men. Israel is the only country in the region where they could live openly. It's self-defeating, and it shows how ideology beats reality.
Common pro-Israel argument — made by Benjamin Netanyahu, Hillel Neuer
Where it's been said
“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming 'Gays for Gaza.' They might as well hold up signs saying 'Chickens for KFC.'”
“Queers for Palestine is like chickens for KFC.”
Traps in play:◆ "They all…"◆ The strict enemy frame
Why people find it convincing
- Gay sex is a crime in Gaza under the 1936 Mandate penal code, which is still in force there, and Hamas reportedly executed one of its own commanders in 2016 after accusations that included gay sex.
- In the West Bank the Palestinian Authority's police banned the LGBTQ group alQaws in 2019, calling it a violation of Palestinian values.
- LGBT Palestinians have fled to Israel, especially Tel Aviv, where Pride is one of the largest in the region.
- Some 'Queers for Palestine' activists have excused Hamas or refused to condemn October 7, which looks like solidarity with the people who would persecute them.
What's true
LGBT Palestinians face real danger in their own society, and some Western activists ignore it.
Palestinian LGBT people face criminal law in Gaza, police hostility in the West Bank, and the threat of family violence. Western activists who praise 'resistance' while ignoring this are ignoring the people whose lives it most affects. Asking them 'would you be safe in Gaza?' is a fair question.
law / courtCriminal Code Ordinance 1936 (British Mandate), s. 152(2), still applied in Gaza (1936) ⚠
pressPalestinian Authority police ban on alQaws activities, August 2019 (later withdrawn) (2019) ⚠
pressHamas execution of commander Mahmoud Ishtiwi (February 2016), reported accusations including gay sex (2016) ⚠
Verify against primary reporting (NYT, 2016).
What's left out
Rights don't depend on a people's attitudes, and LGBT Palestinians speak for themselves.
Supporting a people's right not to be bombed, expelled or occupied has never required approving of their laws or their majority's views. Nobody says Ukrainians, Iranians or rural Americans lose their rights because they're socially conservative. The KFC line quietly makes Palestinians' rights conditional on their being liberal. It also erases LGBT Palestinians themselves. Groups like alQaws are part of Palestinian society and support the Palestinian cause; they reject both Hamas's homophobia and the claim that Israel is their saviour (see 'Israel doesn't even have gay marriage'). And the strongest version of the solidarity case has nothing to do with Hamas: queer people who remember being denied rights side with others who are denied theirs.
Traps here:◆ "They all…"◆ "What about you?"
pressPalestinian Authority police ban on alQaws activities, August 2019 (later withdrawn) (2019) ⚠
Where it leads if pressed
Rights for those we approve of.
Pressed, 'chickens for KFC' turns into a rule that a people's suffering matters only if their culture meets our standards. That's the same logic, in mirror image, as 'pinkwashing', where Israeli gay rights don't count because of the occupation. Both let one side's flaws cancel the other side's humanity. The honest pair of statements survives on its own. Solidarity that excuses Hamas betrays LGBT Palestinians first. Solidarity with Palestinians' rights doesn't require excusing anything.
Traps here:◆ The strict enemy frame
The usual reply — and its own traps
Arguments travel in pairs. Here is what the other side typically answers. Check whether both lean on the same trick.
heard from pro-Palestinian voices“Israel doesn't even have gay marriage — its gay-friendly image is pinkwashing.”