Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique Quotes

“Palestinians are cisgender and transgender, feminist and misogynist, religious and secular, Christian and Muslim, rich and poor, able-bodied and disabled, rural and urban, traditional and cosmopolitan, homebound and itinerant, politically left and right, without regular access to a computer and online throughout the day, from stable families and broken families, and everything in between all these seemingly dichotomous spheres. These circumstances either expand or constrain the queer Palestinian’s journey to realizing their sexual orientation.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“I found it ironic that the Palestinians who painted over the rainbow took such ownership of the Israeli wall and what should or should not be on it—forgetting, at that moment, the oppression of the Israeli occupation that the gray concrete represents in the first place.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“The queer Palestinian solidarity movement is under scrutiny from Zionist critics across the political spectrum who, drawing on dehumanizing racialized discourses, insist on characterizing Palestinians as uniformly and viciously homophobic. Simultaneously, some leftist critics demand that queer Palestinians subordinate resistance to Palestinian homophobia to a Palestinian nationalist struggle that fails to acknowledge them.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law codified Israel’s exercise of national self-determination as “unique to the Jewish people”; therefore it excluded indigenous Palestinians from recognition. Anti-Arab racism often underlies the notion that coexistence with Palestinians is impossible due to a falsely assumed endemic and permanent Arab proclivity toward violence against Israelis. Many Palestinians view the expectation that they should normalize Zionism, the very political project that has been driving their oppression for over seven decades now, to be a form of cruelty.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“Although there are many queer Palestinians who do not identify with the queer Palestinian movement, their disagreements on this issue are largely related to the strategies, timing, and resource allocation needed to resist Zionism.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“For decades, Israeli intelligence and security services have targeted queer Palestinians and used homophobia as a weapon, threatening to out them to their families and communities if they do not serve as informants and collaborators. At the same time, some Zionist institutions have worked over the past decade to co-opt queer Palestinian voices in order to attempt to justify Israel’s military occupation of Palestine to global audiences. It is in this context that queer Palestinian activists built a movement to respond and resist.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“My mother’s response will be with me forever. Upon sharing that I am gay with her in Arabic, she replied, The reason that I am crying is that I cannot believe you have gone through all of this without me. I wish that I had been able to be by your side. But I am now comforted that you have come to me. I am proud of you for how far you have come. I did know deep down inside, like every mother does, but we hold on to the doubt until it is confirmed to us otherwise. I want you to know that my respect for you has only increased. This is something incredibly difficult in our society, but you are my son. I love you, forever and always.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“I also explained to this activist how ironic it was that Abu-Seif and I, as queer Palestinians, were being asked by a non-Palestinian to censor a film about queer Palestinians because of the solidarity activist’s belief that the film is pinkwashing and does not “properly” capture the experience of queer Palestinians. The empire of critique has reached a point at which activists feel entitled to serve as arbiters of which queer Palestinian voices should be considered the most authoritative and archetypical.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“Boycotts have served as a form of discursive enfranchisement and political empowerment that queer Palestinians have, in many ways, used to globally reclaim their voices from the Israeli state and its satellite institutions and their formidable resources. In turn, boycotts have become a primary form of transnational queer Palestinian solidarity activism. Augmenting them with openness to differences in ideology and strategy is critical for movement growth. Radical purism has created conditions in which activists often wind up just preaching to the choir. Avoiding this trap requires a commitment to deep listening, the formulation of means that mirror the ends we seek, a generosity of spirit, and a fierce kindness toward ourselves and others. Such steadfastness is essential, even in the face of cruelty, if the movement is to achieve peace and justice.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“Numerous same-sex couples were holding hands or walking all around me. I could not hold back my tears. A stranger saw me, walked over, gave me a hug, and said, “I know. I know. It will be okay.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique