THE Israeli government prides its nation as being a “safe haven” for LGBT rights. In face of the Israeli Defence Forces’ killing, torturing and displacing of Palestinians over the decades, the Israeli government still expects the world to champion the nation for its inclusivity and progressiveness.

The Israeli government has deceived much of the world with its “pinkwashing.”

Furthermore, by creating a narrative that Israel is more akin to “Western” values than that of the predominantly Muslim populations in the Middle East, Israel is able to pitch itself as welcoming while depicting other countries in the region as backward.

Pinkwashing is a term used to describe the aggressive and deceitful championing of LGBT rights by governments and private corporations. Leeching on to LGBT movements worldwide, culprits of pinkwashing desire to peddle the gay rights agenda as a means of appearing progressive and tolerant so that they can gain public popularity.

When looking specifically into the Israeli state’s use of pinkwashing, it becomes obvious why they chose this propaganda tool in particular. Not only does pinkwashing bring in tourism for areas such as Tel Aviv, but it balances Israel’s historical track record of humanitarian rights violations.

In the wake of the monumental growth of international support for the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli apartheid Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, resulting in boycotts of Israeli goods and tourism, the Israeli state has clung onto the “gay tourism” industry as a means of resisting further boycotts.

In an online article from Israel’s tourist board “Tourist Israel” headlined “Why Tel Aviv is the ultimate LGBT travel destination,” the extent of the state’s pinkwashing propaganda machine is alarming.

Alongside other articles and adverts, the piece claims that Israel is “certainly the most accepting and progressive [nation] in the Middle East” and a “leader of gay rights in the region.” By making such sweeping statements, it is clear that this article was not designed purely for attracting gay tourists, but was rather another means of portraying the narrative of being “superior” and more “progressive” to other Middle Eastern nations.

Over the past few months Israel has received a huge backlash for hosting the 2019 Eurovision song contest held in Tel Aviv.

Activists such as the Palestinian organisation Al Qaws and the queer-identifying Arabic group Pinkwatching Israel (a faction of BDS) called for mass boycotts of the event. As a result, the turnout for Eurovision was significantly lower than previous years in European nations, with even the Jerusalem Post admitting that “thousands of Eurovision tickets [were] unsold.”

The negative publicity that Eurovision received would not have been as rife if it were not for these organisations, as it was they who first called for the boycott – a direct reaction from the gay community to the attempt to hijack an event long associated with a large gay audience. Pinkwash backlash in action.