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Gaza is in crisis. Since Oct. 7, 2023, have been killed by Israeli military operations鈥攖hat鈥檚 about one in every 100 people in Gaza, . Near-constant bombings, communication blackouts, and Israel鈥檚 ongoing blockade of the besieged enclave has led to widespread shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, further endangering the more than 2 million residents in the Gaza Strip, . More than 100 days since Israel declared war on Gaza, the devastation is so complete that that Gaza is actually a different color from space.

But this violence isn鈥檛 just militaristic. There is also violence in the ways occupation is justified and sanitized through language, especially on the global stage. Especially in white, European, or Western media, there are certain cultural narratives鈥攖he kind that shape political action and inaction, media coverage, cultural attitudes, and even interpersonal conversations鈥攖hat work to defend state violence and foster hostility toward victims of that violence. Pinkwashing is one such strategy, now on prime display amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

WATCH: Exposing Israel鈥檚 Attempted Pinkwashing of Genocide

First applied to Israel鈥揚alestine in 2010 by Palestinian American journalist , pinkwashing in this context describes how calculated gestures of LGBTQ acceptance are used to legitimize settler colonialism, distract from human rights violations, and promote an unfounded image of democracy or liberalism. There are numerous examples, long predating the current assault on Gaza: In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister 鈥済ays are hanged鈥� in the Middle East; this past November, the Embassy of Israel used similar language, that Hamas tortures and murders LGBTQ people. Even Israel鈥檚 official Twitter account often features images of 鈥攄espite the fact that same-sex marriage remains illegal in Israel. Taken as a whole, these messages work to simultaneously condemn Palestinians鈥攁nd Middle Easterners more broadly鈥攁s regressive homophobes, while bolstering Israel鈥檚 self-proclaimed status as a 鈥渃ivilized鈥� liberator of queer people. 

鈥淨ueer activism in Gaza began long before the Israeli military鈥檚 genocide, and no one鈥檚 liberation, queer or otherwise, could ever come from a military campaign of wholesale destruction of life and society such as we鈥檝e witnessed the Israeli government wreak on Gaza,鈥� says Liv Kunins-Berkowitz, media coordinator for (JVP). 鈥淭hrough such blatant propaganda, the Israeli government is hoping to muddy the waters of the genocide it is committing and hopes that the queer community will stop its calls for cease-fire and Palestinian liberation.鈥�

The point of pinkwashing, then, is twofold: to not only justify mass violence, but also isolate queer Palestinians from wider, global movements for LGBTQ and human rights. But many activists are actually using pinkwashing to galvanize and educate their communities鈥攁nd frame the genocide as an explicitly queer issue.

鈥淧alestine is and has always been a queer and trans issue, same as every other genocide and occupation out there,鈥� says , a queer, trans, Indigenous displaced Palestinian and executive director of the . 

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for the most marginalized identities to always be centered, especially when those same identities are weaponized against us.鈥�

Part of this work鈥攔ecentering queer Palestinian lives鈥攎eans understanding how pinkwashing happens. 

Pinkwashing has long been part of Israel鈥檚 international strategy, according to Sarah Schulman, who popularized the term in a and authored the book . In the early 2000s, the Israeli government launched its 鈥淏rand Israel鈥� campaign鈥攊ntended to literally brand Israel as modern and progressive to global audiences. By 2010, that strategy included marketing Tel Aviv as an epicenter of gay life and tourism. 鈥淭hey were, very brilliantly, making the claim that gay rights was a symbol of modernity,鈥� Schulman says. 鈥淪o that if you had any kind of gay rights, you were considered advanced.鈥�

The other side of Israel鈥檚 pinkwashing often portrays Palestinians as homophobic and transphobic, says Yaffa. 鈥淎ll this reinforces white supremacist imperialist notions that have been used for hundreds of years to justify genocide and occupation to 鈥榮ave鈥� Black and Brown people from ourselves.鈥� 

Dean Spade, a law professor, organizer, JVP member, and , agrees with Yaffa鈥檚 assessment. 鈥淭o be clear, pinkwashing propaganda isn鈥檛 just aimed at queer and trans people,鈥� Spade explains. 鈥淚t is aimed at anyone who might associate queer freedom with liberation and therefore possibly be convinced that if Israel is pro-gay rights, it must be a just and fair regime.鈥�

In practice, pinkwashing can saturate news coverage and social media. Recently, pictures of gay IDF soldier were circulated widely. On Nov. 13, 2023, Israel鈥檚 official Twitter account In one photo, Atzmoni stands in front of a tank, smiling as he holds up an Israeli flag with rainbow borders; in another, he stands amid bulldozed land in Gaza, with destroyed buildings visible in the background, holding a pride flag with the words 鈥渋n the name of love鈥� written on it. In the caption, Israel鈥檚 Twitter account claimed the IDF soldier wanted to 鈥渟end a message of hope to the people of Gaza living under Hamas brutality鈥� and 鈥渢o raise the first pride flag in Gaza as a call for peace and freedom.鈥�  

Insider Business, a U.S. media outlet, with Atzmoni, who framed the occupation as a fight for LGBTQ rights. 鈥淚 won鈥檛 let [Hamas] bring me back into the closet,鈥� he told Insider in late October 2023. Paradoxically, there is increasing hostility toward the LGBTQ community from Israeli officials, with in 2023 that lawmakers self-identify as 鈥溾�� and call for an end to Pride parades and the denial of medical care for LGBTQ Israelis. Meanwhile, Atzmoni the Israeli military is 鈥渢he protector of Israel鈥檚 democracy and LGBTQ+ rights鈥攁nd the flag represents that.鈥� 

Jewish Voice for Peace activist Kunins-Berkowitz sees something different in Atzmoni鈥檚 photo. 鈥淲hen a soldier dares to hold the pride flag in front of a graveyard that he helped to create, it robs the flag of its liberatory meaning and transforms it into yet another symbol of death and destruction,鈥� they say. 鈥淭o be abundantly clear: There is no pride in genocide. Queer folks around the world refuse to let the Israeli military use our symbols and stories as fuel for their genocidal campaign.鈥�

Spade, too, stresses the importance of naming and resisting pinkwashing, especially within LGBTQ communities. 鈥淕iven that queer and trans people are being used as pawns in the pinkwashing propaganda, it鈥檚 important that we know what鈥檚 going on, so we don鈥檛 accidentally get pulled into colluding with it.鈥�

For Yaffa, the best strategy to disrupt pinkwashing is to center queer and, in particular, trans Palestinian lives and stories instead. 鈥淎s trans Palestinians, every aspect of our being is being weaponized against our own community. Through centering our voices we not only disrupt the pinkwashing narrative but we move beyond it,鈥� she says.

Moving beyond pinkwashing was a major motivation in Yaffa鈥檚 poetry collection , which explores displacement and identity, as well as her decision to edit the forthcoming , forthcoming in spring 2024. 鈥淭he stories we tell are building blocks to the world we build,鈥� says Yaffa. 

Education, too, can equip people鈥攅specially the LGBTQ community鈥攚ith the skills to identify and speak against pinkwashing. In partnership with the , the , the , and others, Yaffa recently spoke at a purplewashing teach-in. Though a slightly different hue, purplewashing is very similar to pinkwashing in that it uses 鈥渨omen鈥檚 rights鈥� to justify genocide and war.

There are countless other examples of both queer Palestinian organizing and queer solidarity movements that take aim at pinkwashing and attempt to rehumanize Palestinians. More than 300 LGBTQ artists condemning Israel鈥檚 occupation, challenging pinkwashing directly and calling for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, a collective of queer Palestinians published a list of for the international community. Likewise, there is a of in the movement and other queer activist groups like ACT UP, which on World AIDS Day, and annual protests, which have long had an anti-Zionist contingent. And there are, of course, the long-standing Palestinian queer grassroots groups like and .

Together, these organizations amplify the vision by queer Palestinians: 鈥淲e, queer Palestinians, are an integral part of our society, and we are informing you: from the heavily militarized alleys of Jerusalem to Huwara鈥檚 scorched lands, to Jaffa鈥檚 surveilled streets and cutting across Gaza鈥檚 besieging walls, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.鈥�