The conflict between Israel and Palestine has escalated in recent months following the Israeli occupation and suicide bombings that have polarised communities even further and left the peace process in disarray.

But members of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities in Israel and Palestine are trying to meet across the divide. Could this provide a model for the wider community in attempting to make a reconciliation?

Yoana Gonen, a dyke from Tel Aviv, is a member of the group Kvisa Shchora (Black Laundry), which has demonstrated against the occupation. She is also a member of Nashim Be`Shachor" (Women in Black) which holds regular protest vigils around Israel.

She told GaydarNation: “The idea behind this is creating the connection between different forms of oppression, for example our experiences as lesbians, gays and trans people and the oppression of other minorities in Israel and in the occupied territories of Palestine, and to stress the need for solidarity between oppressed groups.”

Eyal Naaman, a spokesperson for Aguda, an Israeli civil rights group, added that his organisation is attempting to help gay people facing homophobia in the Arab world and took part in protests against the Egyptian government’s continuing harassment and arrests of gay men.

Naaman said: “We cannot officially align ourselves with any political side because we are sponsored by the Israeli government. But we support Israeli-Palestinian groups who work together for peace, and in the last gay parade in Tel Aviv, where more than 50,000 people took part, we had an Israeli-Arab group who marched together.”

Everybody who spoke to GaydarNation agreed that Israelis and Palestinians are deeply segregated from one another, which has lead to a sense of “them” and “us”. Not everybody feels comfortable with the idea that being a lesbian or a gay man confers a global identity that transcends boundaries.

Liat Geller, of CLAF, an Israeli lesbian feminist group, said that although her organisation refused to align themselves with any side, but added: “While Kvisa Shchora opposes the occupation, I believe there are many other members of our community who feel they cannot participate in demonstrations opposing the current actions in the Palestinian authority and many others who support them.”

Geller went on to say that the level of antagonism was difficult to come to terms with because both Israeli and Palestinian queers face a conflict between their national identity and of being a part of a sexual minority in a larger and frequently homophobic culture.

Despite attempts by Israelis to protest the occupation, Mubarak Dahir, a Palestinian journalist living in New York, paints a gloomy image of the future. He said: “I think things are worse than ever. Sadly, I do not believe that the Israeli government intends to ever let a Palestinian state exist - perhaps it never did. I think Palestinians all over the world, but especially in the occupied lands, feel this and their anger, fear and frustration is boiling over.”

Part of that anger is because of the danger that people face in their day to day lives. Khaled, who administrates the Gay Palestine email list, lives in Germany and spoke about his fear for his family back in the West Bank. Dahir added that anti-Muslim feeling has been at an all time high since 11 September, and has added to the frustration that he and other Muslims feel when addressing the situation in the occupied territories.

It is clear that everyone wants peace, but perhaps the connection between gay and lesbian Israelis and Palestinians needs to be built on a bigger foundation than shared sexual identity. Dahir concludes: “I have come to believe that the line that being gay is some sort of a bond that crosses international borders fails to understand the severity of the daily oppression Palestinians feel. Gay Palestinians feel that oppression from Israel no less than straight Palestinians. I think it`s only natural that that identity takes precedent. After all, the gay Palestinians are not being threatened by the Israelis for being gay - it is for being Palestinian that they fear for their lives.”

Charlotte Cooper