Worshiping the Rainbow Flag is a “Jewish value”

Recent email from the guardians of the Jewish faith in our corner of South Florida:

The organization’s web site says “Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County embraces a culture of diversity and inclusivity in accordance with our Jewish values”.

This is a little confusing because we are also informed that worship of the sacred Rainbow Flag necessarily leads to support for the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”), which seeks to destroy the Zionist entity that is beloved by many Jews. See, for example, “Queer people organizing in solidarity with Palestine continues to grow”:

LGBTQIA+ solidarity with Palestinians has a long, rich history, and it’s growing despite years of Israeli pinkwashing”)

Queer Palestinian people have always been the leaders of their own resistance against Israeli apartheid, and non-Palestinian LGBTQIA+ people around the world have supported the call to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine for decades.

During the [January 6 Queers for Palestine event in Maskachusetts], Yaffa, queer Palestinian-American performance artist Juliet Olivier, and queer Palestinian-American author and activist Hannah Moushabeck spoke about how indigenous peoples around the world were queer before colonists brought homophobia to their societies and warned that bringing up transphobia in Palestine in response to “Free Palestine” is simply a distraction, much like any other answer to “Free Palestine” other than “yes.” They also noted that Palestinians don’t care if their oppressor can live as openly queer or not and that needing to meet basic needs like food, water, and shelter means that Palestinians cannot turn their attention to other needs like working for queer liberation.

It’s also confusing because it is unclear how the “G” part of 2SLGBTQQIA+ is “in accordance with Jewish values” if the Torah is part of “Jewish values” (“the biblical book of Leviticus, which prohibits sex between men” said the New York Times in 2018).

If we can solve this apparent conundrum I hope to see everyone at the parade on Sunday! (Why isn’t the parade during the sacred festival Pride Month of June? Unlike FIFA soccer, Pride isn’t a cause for which people want to die of heat stroke.)