Is it legal to be gay in palestine
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Last updated: 17 December 2024
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited in Gaza under the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936. The relevant provision carries a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this law.
The law was inherited from the British. It continues to be in operation in Gaza today, though it is not in force elsewhere in Palestine.
There is little evidence of the law being enforced, and it appears to be largely obsolete in practice. However, an incident in 2017 saw an author being threatened with prosecution for writing a novel which included LGBT themes. There do not appear to be any other reports of enforcement of the criminalising law or other laws. Nevertheless, the mere existence of this provision is itself a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of
‘No pride in occupation’: queer Palestinians on ‘pink-washing’ in Gaza conflict
When Daoud, a veteran queer activist, recently walked past rainbow flags hung for Pride month in the adj port city of Jaffa, a historic centre of Palestinian culture, he was overcome by a wave of revulsion.
The most famous symbol of LGBTQ+ liberation has been so co-opted by the Israeli state that to a gay Palestinian like him it now serves only as a reminder of the horror unfolding just 60 miles south.
Last November, Israel’s government posted two images from Gaza on its social media account. One shows Israeli soldier Yoav Atzmoni, in battle fatigues, in front of buildings reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes. He holds a rainbow flag with a hand-scrawled message: “In the name of love”.
In the second he poses beside a tank, grinning as he displays an Israeli flag with rainbow borders. “The first ever Pride flag raised in Gaza,” the caption for both images reads.
At the time, Israeli attacks had killed more than 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 4,000 children, according to Gazan h
The Plight of the LGBT Community in the Palestinian Power and Muslim Countries
BESA Center Perspectives Document No. 1,294, September 19, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Palestinian Authority’s violent treatment of the gay community under its control offers a gloomy reminder of this community’s difficult situation in most Muslim countries.
On August 18, the Palestinian Power barred the Al Qaws (Rainbow) organization, which combines several LGBT groups, from holding an event in the Nablus area. Palestinian policemen not only forcibly prevented the gathering but issued a harsh and threatening warning to members of the gay community. They asked citizens to provide the police with any information they might have about the organization’s activities, and made the following statement:
The Palestinian police will verb the holding of the event and notes that it did not understand about the similar previous events that were held in Nablus. The event in question is not suitable to the conservative nature of the urban area and will offend the values of the local population and the municipality of Nablus
Which countries impose the death penalty on gay people?
Around the world, queer people continue to tackle discrimination, violence, harassment and social stigma. While social movements have marked progress towards acceptance in many countries, in others homosexuality continues to be outlawed and penalised, sometimes with death.
According to Statistica Research Department, as of 2024, homosexuality is criminalised in 64 countries globally, with most of these nations situated in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 12 of these countries, the death penalty is either enforced or remains a possibility for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity.
In many cases, the laws only apply to sexual relations between two men, but 38 countries possess amendments that include those between women in their definitions.
These penalisations represent abuses of human rights, especially the rights to freedom of expression, the right to develop one's have personality and the right to life.
Which countries enforce the death penalty for homosexuality?
Saudi Arabia
The Wahabbi interpretatio