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Decolonial Queering in Palestine
This book provides a vivid account of the political valence of weaving queer into native positionality and the struggle for decolonisation in the settler colonial context of Palestine, referred to as decolonial queering. It discusses how processes of gender and sexuality that privilege hetero-colonising authority shaped and continue to define both the Israeli-Zionist conquest of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for liberation, thus future imaginings of free Palestine. This account emerges directly from the voices and experiences of Palestinian activists and artists; particularly, it draws on fieldwork with Palestine’s most established queer grassroots movement, alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, and a variety of artistic Palestinian productions (photography, fashion, music, performance, and video art). Offering a comprehensive and in-depth engagement with the situated context, history, and local practices of Palestinian queerness, scholars, students, and activists across (de)colonial, race, and gender/sexuality studies would appreciate its unique insights; its empirical focus also reaches to those academics in the wider fields of Middle Eastern, anthropological, and political studies.
- GenresNonfiction
216 pages, ebook
Published October 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 20, 2025
id argue it’s one of the best modern studies about north african lgbtq experiences. it demonstrates the dangers of zionism, and the importance of listening, reading and understanding palestinian people.
it’s also important to notice that throughout the book walaa always refers to zionist hetero-conquest, not jewish.
i enjoyed every chapter, and would urge everyone to do the same.
always in the path for a free palestine!! 🇵🇸
death to zionism
it’s also important to notice that throughout the book walaa always refers to zionist hetero-conquest, not jewish.
i enjoyed every chapter, and would urge everyone to do the same.
always in the path for a free palestine!! 🇵🇸
death to zionism
January 3, 2024
This book is one of the most unique takes on the Israel-Palestine conflict I have ever read. It takes the view that Zionism is inherently heterosexual, and that is why it is evil. It then delves into why existing Palestinian movements are not gay enough, how Israel tries to portray itself as a bastion of gay rights compared to Palestine, and then goes into the numerous ways in which gay Palestinians are mistreated. This analysis is fascinating but the author underexplains its relevance to the overall conflict.
Let's start off with Chapter 2 (as 1 is an intro). The author starts off with the claim that Zionism is hetero-conquest. What does this mean? It means that Israel is founded on the idea of a male state that is having penetrative sex with the female land that it is situated upon. The author cites early pioneers' metaphorical description of the area as being "virgin mother earth" and proceeds to run with it, describing European farming methods involving plows as being fundamentally a form of penetrative intercourse as the plows enter the topsoil.
I am not sure what the point of this is. Even if Zionism is performative heterosexual sex, the author does not explain why this is inherently bad. It does not effectively 'queer' the subject as it does not explain what a gay/lesbian/non-heterosexual form of farming would look like.
The book also analyzes Palestinian sides and says that current decolonial frameworks are still heterosexual, in the sense that they tell a story of a man (Palestinians) protecting a woman (Palestine) from being raped (colonization). Another quote describes intifada is a form of pregnancy and that the colonizer seeks to perform an abortion. Liberation is a wedding that will be consummated, giving birth to children of the revolution. So on.
This analysis is slightly more convincing than the one about Israelis, but it doesn't really articulate why this is bad. However, the book *does* go onto provide counter narratives, and wow they are interesting!
They run the gamut from a erotic talking cat that criticizes flamboyantly gay apolitical liberals in cartoons to a man videoing himself masturbating to a photo later revealed to be President Ahmadinejad of Iran. These vignettes compose the bulk of the book as "queer aestheses" and other counter narratives. The author spends several pages on each example, explaining how they defeat Zionism and the revolutionary potential of art.
I, however, remain unconvinced. The talking cat is provocative but the cartoons seem to be directed at criticizing gay Palestinians that don't support Palestinian nationalism. This is a small audience and they appear to be primarily driven by what the book describes as broader Palestinian non-acceptance of their lives. One wonders what the impact of drawing a cat insulting them will be.
The analysis of a video of a man masturbating to the Iranian president is even more confusing. The video allegedly shows (I haven't watched it) a man going at it in a room with an Iranian flag and then it pulls back to surprise the viewer to show he was looking at a photo of Ahmadinejad. I don't understand the relevance of this to the Palestinian cause. It sounds more like queering Iran, but I don't think the former President is *that* attractive and even if he is, there are better ways of showing support for the Iranian govt. The author asserts that this is a brave act against the Israelis but it is unclear why.
There are some decent examples though. The vignettes featuring Al-Qaws and gay Palestinians in the West Bank are fascinating, especially how they critically examine that because of Israel's self-identification with LGBTQ+ rights, being a queer Palestinian is both haram AND political treason. They also delve into the idea that Israel is a safe place for gay people and that gay Palestinians view Tel Aviv as a utopia. The book dismisses this as being wrong and counterrevolutionary, but it is interesting to hear that Israel is seen as better than Palestine by many queer Palestinians.
The book is also unapologetically anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. It views the Oslo Accords as being fundamentally wrong and calls for Palestinians to *never* accept normalization with Israel. This is a more extreme position than even Hamas at the time of this review, which has proposed to accept Israel within its pre-1967 borders for a 100 year truce.
Additionally, the book says that the intifada should never end, and denies a possibility of "settler futurity" within a future all-encompassing Palestinian state. One wonders where all those considered settlers would go, if they have no future in Palestine. One would hope that the author wants all the Jews to peacefully leave, since the alternative of murdering them all would be rather immoral. But given the numerous calls for a violent uprising, the book could be seen as inciting genocide.
Ultimately, this book gets a 1.65/5 for me. It's extreme and glorifies violence against the Jewish people in Israel. It rejects any notions of peace in the Middle East. It provides an extremely weak epistemological basis for all of this as much of the theory is spent talking about how Israel is inherently heterosexual to the point even its gay porn movies are straight (this is in Chapter 2). The book spends much of its time discussing LGBTQ+ movements in the Palestinian Territories but the examples are more shocking than inspiring.
However, I have never heard an analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict this creative before, and the author was very original. So I have to give it some points despite being deranged.
Let's start off with Chapter 2 (as 1 is an intro). The author starts off with the claim that Zionism is hetero-conquest. What does this mean? It means that Israel is founded on the idea of a male state that is having penetrative sex with the female land that it is situated upon. The author cites early pioneers' metaphorical description of the area as being "virgin mother earth" and proceeds to run with it, describing European farming methods involving plows as being fundamentally a form of penetrative intercourse as the plows enter the topsoil.
I am not sure what the point of this is. Even if Zionism is performative heterosexual sex, the author does not explain why this is inherently bad. It does not effectively 'queer' the subject as it does not explain what a gay/lesbian/non-heterosexual form of farming would look like.
The book also analyzes Palestinian sides and says that current decolonial frameworks are still heterosexual, in the sense that they tell a story of a man (Palestinians) protecting a woman (Palestine) from being raped (colonization). Another quote describes intifada is a form of pregnancy and that the colonizer seeks to perform an abortion. Liberation is a wedding that will be consummated, giving birth to children of the revolution. So on.
This analysis is slightly more convincing than the one about Israelis, but it doesn't really articulate why this is bad. However, the book *does* go onto provide counter narratives, and wow they are interesting!
They run the gamut from a erotic talking cat that criticizes flamboyantly gay apolitical liberals in cartoons to a man videoing himself masturbating to a photo later revealed to be President Ahmadinejad of Iran. These vignettes compose the bulk of the book as "queer aestheses" and other counter narratives. The author spends several pages on each example, explaining how they defeat Zionism and the revolutionary potential of art.
I, however, remain unconvinced. The talking cat is provocative but the cartoons seem to be directed at criticizing gay Palestinians that don't support Palestinian nationalism. This is a small audience and they appear to be primarily driven by what the book describes as broader Palestinian non-acceptance of their lives. One wonders what the impact of drawing a cat insulting them will be.
The analysis of a video of a man masturbating to the Iranian president is even more confusing. The video allegedly shows (I haven't watched it) a man going at it in a room with an Iranian flag and then it pulls back to surprise the viewer to show he was looking at a photo of Ahmadinejad. I don't understand the relevance of this to the Palestinian cause. It sounds more like queering Iran, but I don't think the former President is *that* attractive and even if he is, there are better ways of showing support for the Iranian govt. The author asserts that this is a brave act against the Israelis but it is unclear why.
There are some decent examples though. The vignettes featuring Al-Qaws and gay Palestinians in the West Bank are fascinating, especially how they critically examine that because of Israel's self-identification with LGBTQ+ rights, being a queer Palestinian is both haram AND political treason. They also delve into the idea that Israel is a safe place for gay people and that gay Palestinians view Tel Aviv as a utopia. The book dismisses this as being wrong and counterrevolutionary, but it is interesting to hear that Israel is seen as better than Palestine by many queer Palestinians.
The book is also unapologetically anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. It views the Oslo Accords as being fundamentally wrong and calls for Palestinians to *never* accept normalization with Israel. This is a more extreme position than even Hamas at the time of this review, which has proposed to accept Israel within its pre-1967 borders for a 100 year truce.
Additionally, the book says that the intifada should never end, and denies a possibility of "settler futurity" within a future all-encompassing Palestinian state. One wonders where all those considered settlers would go, if they have no future in Palestine. One would hope that the author wants all the Jews to peacefully leave, since the alternative of murdering them all would be rather immoral. But given the numerous calls for a violent uprising, the book could be seen as inciting genocide.
Ultimately, this book gets a 1.65/5 for me. It's extreme and glorifies violence against the Jewish people in Israel. It rejects any notions of peace in the Middle East. It provides an extremely weak epistemological basis for all of this as much of the theory is spent talking about how Israel is inherently heterosexual to the point even its gay porn movies are straight (this is in Chapter 2). The book spends much of its time discussing LGBTQ+ movements in the Palestinian Territories but the examples are more shocking than inspiring.
However, I have never heard an analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict this creative before, and the author was very original. So I have to give it some points despite being deranged.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews