Photo: Hannu H\u00e4kkinen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPinkwashing is the symptom, settler-colonialism is the root sickness. Recognizing pinkwashing as colonial violence can help us understand how Israel divides, oppresses, and erases Palestinians on the basis of gender and sexuality.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Pride Month is celebrated across the globe, we at Sumud \u2013 The Finnish Palestine Network reaffirm our commitment to intersectional solidarity and the liberation of all oppressed peoples, including queer and trans Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid and occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We reject the cynical use of pinkwashing \u2013 the Israeli state\u2019s strategy of promoting itself as a haven for LGBTQ+ rights to distract from its ongoing colonial violence, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against Palestinians. As alQaws powerfully reminds us, pinkwashing is not just propaganda \u2013 it is a form of colonial violence that alienates queer Palestinians from their communities and weaponizes their identities to justify oppression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pinkwashing is rooted in a racist, Orientalist view that portrays Palestinians and Arabs as inherently \u201cbackward\u201d in their stance on gender and sexuality. It relies on the false binary of a \u201cliberal\u201d Israel versus a \u201chomophobic\u201d Palestine, reinforcing anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia. This narrative echoes classic colonial tropes and is deeply entangled with the logics of the War on Terror, as described by Edward Said and others. It serves to justify occupation and apartheid while appropriating the language of queer rights to sanitize state violence and expand geopolitical control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As scholars and activists have noted, pinkwashing is part of a broader strategy to capitalize on conflicts in Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) and to appropriate the region\u2019s resources (Khalidi, 2020). It is not about protecting queer lives \u2013 it is about protecting empire and those who are sustaining a universal apartheid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, more than ever, Pride must prioritize ending the genocide. We must reject any liberalizing of the narrative designed to appease politicians who were late to respond to genocide, and who now weaponize and whitewash queer rights to serve their capitalist and right-wing agendas. Queer rights are not a tool for political gain \u2013 they are rooted in intersectional justice and collective resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As articulated in the Internationalist Queer Pride for Palestine (IQPP) political paper, queer liberation cannot be separated from the broader struggle against imperialism, capitalism, and colonialism. Our queerness is not a brand to be co-opted by states or corporations \u2013 it is a radical refusal of all systems of domination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We echo the global BDS movement in calling for an end to all forms of complicity in Israeli apartheid, including the pinkwashing of Pride events. Pride was born from resistance \u2013 not as a platform for settler colonial states and other liberal or right-wing politicians to sanitize their crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are strong together because we know: Join Us in Action<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We invite everyone \u2013 every queer person, every ally, and every Pride participant \u2013 to learn and unlearn, to reflect on the intersections of oppression, and to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join us in the streets of Helsinki to demand an end to the genocide. Photo: Hannu H\u00e4kkinen \u201cPinkwashing is the symptom, settler-colonialism is the root sickness. Recognizing pinkwashing as colonial violence can help us understand how Israel divides, oppresses, and erases Palestinians on the basis of gender and sexuality.\u201d \u2013 alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society As Pride Month is celebrated across the globe, we at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,128],"tags":[],"hf_cat_post":[],"class_list":["post-6766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-statement"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"Blog posts"},{"value":128,"label":"Statement"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/54621056551_965037a297_o-1024x647.jpg",1024,647,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Sumud Office","author_link":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/author\/sumud-office\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Blog posts","slug":"blog-posts","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":4,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Blog posts","category_nicename":"blog-posts","category_parent":0},{"term_id":128,"name":"Statement","slug":"statement","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":128,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":128,"category_count":7,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Statement","category_nicename":"statement","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6766"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6782,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6766\/revisions\/6782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6766"},{"taxonomy":"hf_cat_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sumud.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hf_cat_post?post=6766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
There can be no compromise in times of genocide.
We must all center an anti-genocide, anti-colonial, and decolonial narrative \u2013 one that does not selectively choose one agenda over another, but instead embraces the full spectrum of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your messages clear: Free Palestine.
Stand with us in the Palestine Decolonial Internationalist Block.
Together, we reclaim Pride as a space of resistance, solidarity, and uncompromising justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"