LGBTQphobia Report #8

The Arab LGBTQ Sector “I was kicked out of home and I haven’t left a friend’s apartment for a few months...when I finally had the courage to go outside, I was attacked for being an LGBTQ. I really don’t see what I have to live for?” M, center Israel. This year 100% of the reports coming from the Arab sector were about intolerance and violence by close family, creating a serious emotional, mental and economic distress, which has dramatically grown during the pandemic time and the lockdowns. The Report Center has received tens of reports form the Arab LGBTQs. We recognise that the cases we hear of are only the tip of the iceberg, as there are hundreds or even thousands of unreported cases. The reports we have received are terrible cases, such as of teens being thrown out of their homes after being beaten to a pulp, going out into the streets of Jaffa, where they were assaulted again by people on the street. When the assailants were asked for the reasons they were beating the teens, they responded that “There is no place in the Arab society for homosexuals”. Having said all that, in contrast to recent years where the LGBTQ issue was hushed, we have seen a great change in attitude within the Arab sector towards the LGBTQ issue between 2019-2020- changes for the better and for the worse. Several important events have happened between 2019 and 2020, bringing forth the discourse surounding the Arab LGBTQ issue and the reactions against it by the ‘Arab street’: The stabbing of an Israeli Arab teenager in Beit Dror; the first ever Palestininan queer community protest in Haifa in which MP Aida Touma Sulieman participated; the collaboration between El-Arz Tahini and The Aguda to form a helpline for the Arab LGBTQs; Passing the law against LGBTQ conversion treatments, for which huge preassure was placed on the members of the Joint List Alliance Party to vote for/against it, and eventually the fact that some members of the Joint List Alliance Party have voted for the law to pass, has contributed to some agitation in the sector; Ayman Safiah’s funeral, who was an Arab LGBTQ dancer, was an important event, contributing to the legitimisation of LGBTQ Arabs in the Arab-Israeli society. All these above mentioned events are important milestones in recognising the Arab LGBTQ presence within the Arab-Israeli environment. For every challenge over the existing conservative hegemony, a counter reaction is exercised by people and politicians from the Arab sector. On the one hand we are witnessing more acceptance of LGBTQs and their right to exist in the Arab environment, and on the other hand we are witnessing resistance from officials who want to prevent the evolving changes; thus the violence increases. This issue can be fully understood when looking at the increasing numbers of LGBTQ Israeli-Arabs arriving at safe houses in the last year: in 2020 their numbers were 30% of the residents in the Beit Dror youth safe house, and we are witnessing a constant increase: in 2019 the percentage number stood at 29.2% whereas in 2018 it was 27.7%. It’s important to point out that the percentage presented here is higher than their 20% ratio of the general population. Community Support: Using a proactive approach: In the past year, with the help of The Aguda, the Arab LGBTQ’s were provided with adequate responses specially adapted for their specific matters they have to deal with, including a help-line and psycho-socio response- all in Arabic. Additionally, out of understanding the strong need of a safe space for the Arab LGBTQs, The Aguda encourages the creation and building of a strong Arab LGBTQ community. Notwithstanding the above, in order to reach as many relevant people from the Arab sector who are facing many difficult challenges, we have collaborated with El-Arz Tahini and created a help-line in Arabic that relies solely on Arab and Arabic speaking volunteers, who can understand, reach out and connect them with all the services that we, The Aguda, can offer. For this reason we also work constantly with the police, in order to provide a heavier weight on the way the Arab LGBTQ cases are handled and to give the Arab LGBTQs more efficient assistance when they turn to the police to report gender or sexual orientation abuse.

LGBTQphobia Report