The Palestinian Authority has rescinded a ban on a gay and transgender advocacy group that caused outrage among human rights organizations and fear among some of its members and after a huge backlash.
But rights groups say the PA must go further then withdrawing a police statement that left members of the LGBTQ rights group
Al Qaws fearful for their safety.
"I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was just a rumor until I saw the statement myself," said Amir, a 21-year-old Al Qaws member from occupied Jerusalem, who preferred not to give his real name.
On 17 August, Palestinian Authority (PA) police spokesperson Louai Irzeqat issued a statement targeting Al-Qaws ("The Rainbow" in Arabic), claiming the group goes against "traditional Palestinian values" and called on citizens to report "suspicious figures attempting to provoke and harm the Palestinian social fabric."
It also accused the group of being "foreign agents."
The statement came even though Palestinian law
does not consider homosexuality a crime.
"It makes all of us scared," said 23-year-old Ahmad, who also wanted to remain anonymous and is from the northern occupied West Bank. "The PA should be the ones protecting its citizens from violence, and now they are the ones who are encouraging it."
Al Qaws released a
statement following the PA's announcement condemning the "use of prosecution, intimidation, and threats of arrest, be it by the police or members of society."
"We believe that the police and Palestinian society at large should focus on combatting the occupation and other forms of violence that tear apart the sensitive fabric of our society and values, instead of prosecuting activists who work tirelessly to end all forms of violence," the statement added.
According to Haneen Maikey, the director of Al Qaws, the group – which has received threatening emails and messages containing hate speech since its inception as part of a non-political Israeli LGBTQ community center in 2001 – began receiving a higher frequency of threatening and hateful messages following a
protest they organized in Haifa at the start of August demanding an end to homophobia in the Palestinian community.
The protest was in response to the
stabbing of a 16-year-old Palestinian teen outside of an LGBTQ shelter in Tel Aviv in July. The teen's brother is suspected of carrying out the stabbing.
