The removal of the gay rights “rainbow” flag that had been painted on the Israel-West Bank security wall “reflects the absence of tolerance & freedoms in the Palestinian society,” said Jarrar.

By Israel Today Staff

It is somewhat ironic that the most vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause are ultra-liberals who also champion issues such as gay rights, given that Palestinian society does not tolerate homosexuals. In other words, they are fighting for the creation of a state that would suppress the very rights they demand elsewhere.

The counter-terror security wall, protecting Israel, before being whitewashed.

This was again demonstrated on Monday when protestors whitewashed a gay rights “rainbow” flag that had been painted on the West Bank security barrier by renowned Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar.

Jarrar said he painted the homosexual symbol on the security wall near the de facto Palestinian capital of Ramallah in order to draw attention to the “Israeli occupation” under which his people live.

But he later admitted to the Associated Press that the real oppressors of liberal human rights in the area are his own people. The whitewashing of his painting “reflects the absence of tolerance, and freedoms in the Palestinian society,” said Jarrar, whose work has been featured in the US and Europe.

Protestors who took part in the whitewashing said there was no choice but to remove such disgraceful imagery. “It would be shameful to have the flag of gays in our refugee camp,” said Mohammed al-Amleh, a 46-year-old lawyer.

The Associated Press report noted that in order to live openly and without risk to their lives, Palestinian homosexuals must actually flee to Israel, the very state that champions of the Palestinian cause claim oppresses Arabs.

Those who remain in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas must live secretive lives. In the past, some Palestinian homosexuals have been brutally and publicly killed. By contrast, Tel Aviv last month played host to a gay pride parade attended by over 100,000 people.

View original Israel Today publication at: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/26905/Default.aspx