And still on the topic of great operations, a group called New Tolerance Campaign – “a watchdog organization mobilizing Americans to confront intolerance double-standards by establishment institutions, civil rights groups, universities, and socially-conscious brands” – have launched a new campaign, which I think we should all get behind.
I’ll call it Operation: Getting Chickens for KFC to visit Colonel Sanders:
A $1,000,000 Wake-Up Call to “Queers for Palestine”
This isn’t a joke. It’s not a publicity stunt. Our offer is real.
The New Tolerance Campaign has secured $1,000,000 to underwrite expenses for an LGBTQ Pride Parade in Gaza or the West Bank!
For nearly a year, “Queers for Palestine” and allied groups have insisted that Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) are “inclusive” — here’s their chance to prove it.
We started this campaign to contrast the lives of LGBTQ individuals in the Palestinian territories and Israel. It has evolved into a realization that achieving Palestinian recognition for LGBTQ rights could lead to true liberalization of the Arab world — and thus, eventually, peace.
Right now, there is a clash of values between Israel and most of the Arab world. In Israel, gay people can live their lives openly, while the Arab world views them with disdain. Homosexuality is illegal in many Arab countries. The NTC $1,000,000 Gay Pride Parade Challenge holds the potential to awaken acceptance and greater tolerance in the Arab world.
Starting Monday, September 16, mobile billboards will be circulating around Columbia University (116th Street and Broadway) in New York City, the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave NW) in Washington, DC, and UCLA (405 Hilgard Avenue) in Los Angeles advertising our offer and encouraging Queers for Palestine (or any LGBTQ organization) to accept our challenge.
An LGBTQ Pride Parade in Gaza or the West Bank would empower grassroots LGBTQ movements within Arab countries and work toward improving human rights for all. Please join us in urging LGBTQ advocacy organizations in the United States to take up our Challenge, make an unforgettable statement, and advance the human rights they purport to uphold.
Of course, if any of these organizations want to take them up on the challenge, we already know what would happen.
