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The San Francisco International LGBT
Film Festival bills itself as the largest queer
cultural event in the world. For years, the
Israeli Consulate has been a financial sponsor and
copresenter of the festival . In 2007, QUIT!
launched a campaign to get Frameline, the festival's
producer, to sever the relationship and to respect the
call of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of
Israeli cultural institutions. We did not ask them
not to show Israeli films or bring Israeli directors to
speak, but only to stop partnering directly with
the Israeli government.
In 2008 and 2009, the Consulate
was not a sponsor of the film festival, and it seemed
that we had been heard. But in 2010, with new
leadership at Frameline and the Israeli government in
the throes of its "Brand Israel" campaign,
which includes a specific focus on forging ties with
international LGBT communities, the relationship was
renewed. In 2010 and 2011, QUIT! organized
demonstrations outside the Castro Theater during the
festival, which drew crowds of hundreds. Frameline
was upset by the demonstrations, but instead of meeting
the legitimate demand of queer activists to take a stand
for all human rights, Frameline leadership strengthened
its ties to the Israeli government and worked closely
with them to neutralize and discredit the protests.
In 2011, Palestinian Queers for
Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions, Al Qaws for Sexual
and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society and Aswat-Palestinian
Gay Women joined the call for Frameline to end its
relationship with the consulate. Frameline ignored
them.
 In 2012, 20 activists from QUIT!, the
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Decolonize
Oakland and Occupride interrupted Frameline executive
director KC Price as he introduced the director of
"The Invisible Men," an Israeli film about
Palestinian gay men fleeing intolerance in their own
communities to live underground in Tel Aviv.
While we do not deny that there is
homophobia in Palestinian society, as in nearly every
society on earth, we know that the occupation is the
biggest obstacle to freedom for Palestinian
queers. When the Israeli government sponsors the
showing of movies like "The Invisible Men," it
does so not to liberate Palestinian queers but to
promote the image of Israel as a bastion of freedom in
contrast to the Arab world. This misrepresents the
experience and appropriates the voice of Palestinian
queers.
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