Question for Elinor: What role do you think activism for gay and lesbian rights has in the peace process? Does peace come first or do gay and lesbian rights come first? Or are the two movements separate?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Identity Conflicts
In the City of Borders film trailer, one girl said that an Israeli mother would rather her daughter be gay than to marry an Arab. I think the fact that she compares these two identities shows how conflicted people are when it comes to these identities. Whether wrong or right, certain groups are more easily identified with. For Americans, a predominantly Christian country (at least at its founding), it is easier to relate to the Jews than the Arabs because Jews are found in the Christian Bible and are the heritage of Christ. Presumably from this quote, it is easier for Jews to identify with homosexuals than with Arabs because the Arab identity is so connected with the turmoil of the past seventy or so years. For acceptance of any group which is connected with such long and deep conflict, great change in ideology, culture practices, and religious beliefs would have to occur.
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I like that you mentioned the mother's perspective about her preferring her daughter to be gay rather than to marry an Arab. That simply explains how intense and important the conflict is. I like how you linked Jews to homosexuals in comparison to Arabs to Jews. It shows how different our world in the U.S. vs. life in the Middle East. Our wars aren't are on our own land so unless you have a connection to the war or know someone fighting, most Americans are focused on other issues such as gay rights, abortion etc. However war is so close to home over there that it seems political issues overpower social issues.
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